Manuscripts and early printed books

The Allard Pierson's collection of manuscripts and early printed books contains rare and valuable works, ranging from manuscripts from the 9th to the 21st  centuries to early modern books from the 15th to 18th centuries, including 300 medieval manuscripts and nearly 600 incunabula. There are also more than 600,000 letters.

Some of these collections were already to be found early on in Amsterdam's City Library, which became the university library in the 17th century. Many items were acquired, donated or given on loan over time. In particular, they invite research into materiality. Aspects such as the parchment and type of paper used, binding techniques, decorations and user marks such as annotations reveal a great deal about the production and use of books over the centuries. Various collections offer numerous objects for the study of book bindings, the development of script, the development of decorations, and the diversity of book production in Amsterdam in the 17th and 18th centuries.

• Former City Library, including Jacob Buyck's library
• Bookbinding collections
• Former J.A. Dortmond Museum of Script
• Letter collections, such as the Diederichs collection
• Calligraphy collection
• Books of Hours
• Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica 
• Alba amicorum and poetry albums
• Royal Dutch Medical Association (KNMG)

Various collections can be found through Collection descriptions. Single manuscripts acquired before 1902 can be found in the printed catalogue by M.B. Mendes da Costa, Catalogus der handschriften, Amsterdam 1902, which can be consulted in the Allard Pierson’s Reading Room. Later manuscripts acquired singly are to be found in a card catalogue in the Allard Pierson’s Reading Room. Making the manuscript collections available is a work in progress, so you are advised to contact curator Jessie Pietens if you have any questions or uncertainties.

All printed books and secondary literature on book history can be found through the online Catalogue.

Further details on content, acquisition and provenance of specific collections can be found in ArchivesSpace. Journals, reference works, bibliographies and printed catalogues of manuscripts and printed books can be found in the Reading Room's reference library.

• Katell Lavéant
  Curator of printed collections
  Send an e-mail: k.v.m.p.laveant@uva.nl  
  UvA profile: To the UvA staff page
• Jessie Pietens
  Curator of manuscripts
  Send an e-mail: j.pietens@uva.nl 
  UvA profile: To the UvA staff page