Erfgoedbibliotheek Hendrik Conscience

The Hendrik Conscience Heritage Library (Dutch: Erfgoedbibliotheek Hendrik Conscience) is the repository library of the city of Antwerp. It is named after the Flemish writer Hendrik Conscience, whose statue adorns the library. The library conserves books and magazines to keep them available permanently.

The history of the Hendrik Conscience Heritage Library, which was called the City Library until 2008, goes back to 1481. The collection contains more than one million books. The primary collection areas are Dutch literature, history of the Netherlands, early printed books (pre-1830), Flemish folk culture, art in the Netherlands, and works about Antwerp ("Antverpiensia").

The library originated in the fifteenth century, Over the centuries, the collection grew steadily. In the nineteenth century, the library expanded significantly. Today the Hendrik Conscience Heritage Library possesses a vast and versatile collection.

In 1481, city secretary Willem Pauwels donated his collection of 41 books to the City of Antwerp. In 1505, the collection was placed in Antwerp City Hall. This original collection was lost in 1576, when the city hall caught fire during the Spanish Fury, when mutinous Spanish troops plundered the city.

The city soon decided to rebuild the library. Christopher Plantin and his successors donated a copy of each book they printed, including the Biblia Polyglotta and Opticorum libri VI of Francis Aguilonius. In 1594, the new library was again housed in the city hall, but this time in the former room of the militia, the Camer van de Librarye.

In 1604, Bishop Joannes Miraeus founded the Antwerp seminary, which was responsible for the education of the secular clergy. There soon was a need for a private library, so Miraeus appointed his erudite nephew Aubertus Miraeus as the librarian. Aubertus created an expansive humanist collection, thanks to donations of scholars, wealthy citizens and book printers. In 1609 the chapter started negotiations with the city council to merge the two libraries. Aubertus Miraeus made an inventory of the chapter library and published it as Bibliothecae Antverpianae Primordia. He mentions 356 works, including 32 manuscripts. In 1617, the two libraries merged. The resulting collection was housed in the seminary.

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