Museum Meermanno – House of the Book ( nl, Huis van het boek), formerly called Museum Meermanno-Westreenianum, is a museum named after Willem Hendrik Jacob van Westreenen van Tiellandt on the Prinsessegracht 30 in

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...

. It is remarkable for its collection of sculpture, books, etchings, and paintings, but is most attractive to visitors for its accurate upkeep of the 18th century ''Herenhuis'' interior with period furnishings and collectibles.

History

The museum is located in the former house of the book collector (1783–1848), who himself was a great admirer of his cousin (1751–1815), a book collector, traveler, and diarist. The museum is partly a personal memorial to Meerman, and focuses today on the written and printed books in all forms. The development of the design of old and modern books is the central theme. The museum has a collection of books from all periods of Western history. Medieval

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced i ...

s, their manufacture, restoration, and accompanying research are one of the most important features of the collection. The development of writing is shown through a bird's eye view of the layout and decoration of these manuscripts. Besides the

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

manuscripts, there are also fine

incunabula In the history of printing, an incunable or incunabulum (plural incunables or incunabula, respectively), is a book, pamphlet, or broadside that was printed in the earliest stages of printing in Europe, up to the year 1500. Incunabula were pro ...

, i.e. books printed before 1501. In addition to the collection of old books, the museum also collects books printed from 1850 to the present day. The shape and design of the books are the central theme. Rotating exhibitions show various parts of the overall collection, while the house interior is worth a visit for the paintings by famous Dutch masters. The museum owns the largest collection of

bookplate An ''Ex Libris'' (from ''ex-librīs'', ), also known as a bookplate (or book-plate, as it was commonly styled until the early 20th century), is a printed or decorative label pasted into a book, often on the front endpaper, to indicate ownership. ...

s in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. There is also an old fashioned movable-type printing press in the museum.

Origin of the museum

The museum is named after two avid book collectors: Willem Hendrik Jacob (Willem) baron van Westreenen van Tiellandt (1783–1848) and his cousin Johan Meerman (1751–1815). The baron substantially extended Meerman's collection, and since 1852 there is the museum. Since then the collection has been expanding.

External links

* {{Authority control Meermanno-Westreenianum Biographical museums in the Netherlands Literary museums in the Netherlands Historic house museums in the Netherlands Printing press museums