Cultural Encounters

Asian Special Collections

South Indian Treasures Discovered at Leiden University Libraries

Four of the oldest dated manuscripts from South India have been discovered at Leiden University Libraries.

Guest author • 19-11-2019

Asian Special Collections

Tsar and Khan in black and white: Treaties between Russia and China (1689-1881)

Sitting on the shelves of the Special Collections at Leiden University is a bundle of rare reprints of treaties between Russia and China. Important, because copies of original treaties are not something that we, ordinary mortals, may consult.

Guest author • 30-10-2019

Exhibitions · Photography · Asian Special Collections

Schaefers’s daguerreotypes of the Borobudur

In 1844, the German photographer Adolf Schaefer was recommended by Ph. F. von Siebold, advisor to the Ministry of the Colonies, to document the antiquities of the island of Java.

Anouk Mansfeld • 23-09-2019

Asian Special Collections

The Imperially Inscribed Illustrations of Cotton

Cotton production and Chinese imperial poems in blue ink: a new set of stone rubbings in the Leiden collection

Guest author • 29-03-2019

Asian Special Collections

The first Japanese love letter by Sonogi to Von Siebold now discovered

"Reading your letters, I recall your face and long for the days gone by."

Guest author • 04-12-2018

Asian Special Collections

The elusive Panji pops up in Leiden

Who is Panji, and what exactly is a Panji tale?

Guest author • 19-11-2018

Middle Eastern Special Collections

Digitisation Project of Yemeni Manuscripts at Leiden University Libraries

The Yemeni manuscripts of Leiden University Libraries are now being digitised as part of The Zaydi Manuscript Tradition, a project coordinated by Professor Sabine Schmidtke (Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton).

Arnoud Vrolijk • 15-11-2018