Identifying woodcut prints from a 1541 Dutch Livy translation

Thirteen woodcut prints in an uncatalogued box lead to an interesting quest through old books in the Leiden Special Collections. Danny Sunder explains how classic and modern techniques help identify unlinked images, enriching catalogue records.

Guest author • April 17, 2024

More than a costume party. Costumes for the Leiden Student Pageant of 1910

Within the field of costume history, fancy dress can be a rather complicated and neglected category. Are we looking at ‘fake’ clothes or well-made imitations? Research can reveal some interesting facts about its production, its previous owners, and their motives for ordering these clothes.

• October 12, 2021

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.

Jef Schaeps • April 20, 2021

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.

Other Library Staff • April 06, 2021

William Louis of Nassau (1560-1620), Saviour of the Dutch Republic

After the assassination of William of Orange (1533-1584), friends feared, and foes hoped the Dutch Republic would collapse. The Republic, however, was saved by a team of professional leaders, laying the foundations for an emergent country and its lasting independence.

Anton van der Lem • May 26, 2020