leidenspecial­collectionsblog — page 12

Asian Special Collections

An Edict Issued by the Wanli Emperor - Three Students Report on a Ming Dynasty Manuscript

In December 2020 the University Library acquired a Ming edict once in the collection of the Dutch sinologist Robert van Gulik. Three Chinese Studies students report on its restoration and academic relevance.

Portraits of Leiden University

Leiden University Libraries recently acquired a rare eighteenth-century book at an auction in Belgium. It concerns a collection of engraved portraits of Leiden professors, supplemented with a city plan and several engravings of Leiden cityscapes.

A new puzzle piece in the life of Irawan Soejono

At the beginning of the Second World War, a lot of Indonesian students attended university in the Netherlands. One of the best-known Indonesian students is Irawan Soejono. Struck by his story, we discovered new information about his whereabouts and activities during his time as a resistance fighter.

Prints, Drawings and Portraits

Leiden University’s third centenary and jubilee (1875)

The fifteenth of June 1875 was a pleasant and warm day. Some menacing clouds threatened to throw a spanner in the works, but luckily the rain never came. Fortunate for the crowds gathering in Leiden, as on this day, Leiden University celebrated its three hundredth anniversary.

Prints, Drawings and Portraits

Dogs in the library (1610). A team for utility and entertainment

Dogs were a much-loved subject in early modern prints. On the oldest depiction of the Leiden University Library, a print from 1610 after design by Jan Cornelisz Woudanus (ca. 1565-1615) two dogs are visible in the foreground, and not without purpose.

Asian Special Collections

Brailliant and over the Moon: The Chinese Tactile Collection

Thinking about inclusion is not something new in the world of reading, and the Leiden Special Collections have pieces to prove it. In this blog I want to highlight a collection of 19th century books in the Special Collections aimed at helping the blind in Qing China read their mother tongue.