leidenspecial­collectionsblog — page 17

Manuscripts, Archives and Letters

Toleration in the Dutch Republic? Johannes Wtenbogaert and the Remonstrant minority

Johannes Wtenbogaert wrote several letters to his confidant Hugo de Groot about his difficulties as the informal leader of the Remonstrant congregation in the Netherlands in the 1620s and 30s. The letters offer a different perspective on toleration in the Dutch Republic.

Asian Special Collections

A busy route: a story of airmail between the Dutch East Indies and the Netherlands.

The Hoekstra-collection contains more than 900 items of ephemera and memorabilia, but among the most striking items is a set of mysteriously empty envelopes.

Middle Eastern Special Collections

Egyptian Screen Goddesses and Western Fashion: Freedom or Oppression?

Popular Egyptian cinema abounds in screen goddesses in high heels and short skirts. Is this the typically Western idea of being free to wear whatever you like? Or of women dressing like tarts in order to attract men?

Cubicula locanda

The signs to rent a room have disappeared from the Leiden streets a few decades ago, but plenty of traces can still be found throughout the Academic Historical Museum: Cubicula locanda!

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.

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.