Did you know that our oldest book in print dates back to 1472?
A look into the treasury of the Rotterdam Library can be very instructive indeed.
Unique contents
The special collections named below are kept safe in climate-controlled depots. Items can be ordered for viewing. As most of these are unique and precious they are not on loan.
Special Collections
- Collection Erasmus
- Treasures (Flash website showing a small collection of the library's treasures)
- Ancient children’s and picture books
- The Rotterdam Collection
- The Comic Book Documentation Centre
- The Leopold Collection
- The Maaskant Circus Collection
- Genealogy and Heraldry
- Sheet music
Where did the library obtain these collections?
Some of them have been around from the beginning, such as the Laurentiana; books originating from the former library (1604) of St. Laurens’ Church.
A number of collections were created by expanding existing collections, such as the Erasmus Collection and our collection of ancient children’s books.
In addition the library receives donations as well. The poet, classic and Spinoza expert J.H. Leopold bestowed his own book collection on the Rotterdam library, and Barend Maaskant donated a collection of circus books.
Rotterdam Collection
Obviously the Rotterdam Library cannot be without proper information about the City of Rotterdam, so the “Rotterdam Collection” was composed to this end. Many of the items added to this collection are preserved for the future. The collection provides a lot of information to the general public.
Card Index
A number of these special collections are still being expanded and quite a few of them can be found in our automated catalogue. However, most books from the Erasmus Collection and most of the old printed editions can only be looked up in our card index.
The card index catalogues are situated in the Erasmus Room. Here you can also view items from our special collections. Call 010 2816 188 or mail to
the Erasmuszaal to make an arrangement.