Bibliotheca Thysiana 2.13

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.Publications (selection) Adriaan Smout: The Thysius Lute Book / Het Luitboek van Thysius. Facs. ed. (ms. 1666). Leiden & Utrecht, 2009. Paul Hoftijzer: Bibliotheca Thysiana. 'Tot publijcke dienst der studie' . Leiden, 2008 Esther Mourits: Fortune - Du Bartas dans la Bibliotheca Thysiana à Leyde. In: Oeuvres & critiques; vol. 29 (2004), no. 2, pag. 78-86 D'avoir une chambre garnie de plus belles editions. Uit de correspondenties van Johannes Thysius.. Leiden, Bibliotheca Thysiana, 2001.