Johannes Thysius (born Jan Thijs; 1622–1653) was a lawyer, known for his collection of books and prints, now

Bibliotheca Thysiana 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 studi ...

(

Leiden Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wit ...

). He was the son of an Amsterdam merchant and descendant in a line of goldsmiths, and was raised by Constantinus l’Empereur van Opwijck (1591–1648), professor of Eastern languages at

Leiden University Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince o ...

.Wouts, Daphne E.: “Exploring the Thysiana Scrapbook”, Print Quarterly, XXXIII, 4, December 2016, pp. 391–405.
/ref> His collection comprised approximately 2,000 books by the time of his death, on several topics such as history, classics and mathematics. The prints he possessed are mostly secular, featuring reproductions of animals and ornaments as well as humorous and erotic compositions.Schaeps, J.: “Prenten uit de Bibliotheca Thysiana”, Leids Kunsthistorsich Jaarboek, IX, 1994, pp. 247–310.
/ref> In addition, the Thysiana collection included the “Thysiana scrapbook”, an album of silhouetted prints and paintings from several sources, most of them being impressions of popular published images, which may or may not have been compiled by him.

References

{{Authority control 1622 births 1653 deaths 17th-century Dutch lawyers Dutch collectors