Bibliotheca Thysiana
Bibliotheca Thysiana in 2006
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| Country | The Netherlands |
|---|---|
| Type | Public library |
| Established | 1655 |
| Location | Leiden |
| Collection | |
| Size | 2,500 volumes |
The Bibliotheca Thysiana was erected in 1655 to house the book collection of the lawyer Johannes Thysius (1621–1653). 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. Bibliotheca Thysiana is one of the Top 100 Dutch heritage sites. 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 public 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.
The library has a separate special collection of several hundred books from and about Emanuel Swedenborg.
(1994)
(1994)
(1964)
(1959)
Johannes Thysius
Coordinates: 52°09′33″N 4°29′4″E / 52.15917°N 4.48444°E
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