page_title: Leiden University Library
section_title: Bibliotheca Thysiana
hierarchical_section_title: Leiden University Library / Special Collections / Bibliotheca Thysiana
caption_attribution_description: Bibliotheca Thysiana, Leiden
context_page_description: Leiden University Library is a library founded in 1575 in Leiden, Netherlands. It is regarded as a significant place in the development of European culture: it is a part of a small number of cultural centres that gave direction to the development and spread of knowledge during the Enlightenment. This was due particularly to the simultaneous presence of a unique collection of exceptional sources and scholars. Holdings include approximately 5,200,000 volumes, 1,000,000 e-books, 70,000 e-journals, 2,000 current paper journals, 60,000 Oriental and Western manuscripts, 500,000 letters, 100,000 maps, 100,000 prints, 12,000 drawings and 300,000 photographs. The library manages the largest collections worldwide on Indonesia and the Caribbean. Furthermore, Leiden University Library is the only heritage organization in The Netherlands with three registrations of documents in UNESCO's Memory of the World Register.
  "Est hic magna commoditas bibliothecae ut studiosi possint studere"
  —Josephus Justus Scaliger
  "The greatest advantage of the library is that those who want to study, can study."
context_section_description: The Bibliotheca Thysiana was erected in 1655 to house the book collection of the lawyer Joannes Thysius (1622–1653). Upon his early death, he left a legacy of 20,000 guilders for the building of a public library ("tot publycque dienst der studie") with a custodian's dwelling. Designed by the architect Arent van 's-Gravensande, the building follows the Dutch Classical style and is regarded as one of the jewels of Dutch 17th century architecture. It is distinguished by its balanced proportions and the purity of its Ionic order on top of a high basement.
  The Bibliotheca Thysiana is the only surviving 17th century example in the Netherlands of a building that was designed as a library.  It is quite extraordinary that a complete private 17th century library has been preserved and thus offers a good impression of the book collection of a young, learned bibliophile from the period of late Humanism.  The collection contains about 2,500 books and thousands of pamphlets in all scientific fields.
caption: Bibliotheca Thysiana, Rapenburg 25, Leiden
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