Bibliotheca Thysiana

Leiden, Netherlands

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 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.

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.

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Founded: 1655
Category: Miscellaneous historic sites in Netherlands

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Paulien Leeuwenburgh (4 years ago)
Het geluk gehad hier bij de open monumentendag2018 binnen te kijken. Prachtig gebouw!
Paulien Lb (4 years ago)
Happiness to look in at the open monument day2018. Beautiful building!
Keimpe Keuning (7 years ago)
Keimpe Keuning (7 years ago)
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