Special Collections - Maastricht University Library

Special Collections - Maastricht University Library The Maastricht University’s Special Collections. Delve into Philosophy, History, Literature and more.

08/09/2026

Meet the artist: Marjon Merckelbach-Hovens

🎥 This video is in Dutch. Read the English summary below.

Marjon originally trained as a textiles teacher at the Stadsacademie in Maastricht. When teaching positions were scarce, she retrained as a mathematics teacher, but, as she puts it, “you can’t fight your nature”. Textiles and art remained an essential part of who she is.

For Books, Tales & Tiny Worlds, Marjon created her very first diorama, inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s The Princess and the Pea. As a child, she was fascinated by the princess who could feel a tiny pea beneath twenty mattresses and ten duvets. Looking at the tale again as an adult, she also discovered its satirical commentary on nobility, sensitivity and the demands placed upon people.

Marjon brought the story to life in her own visual language. Her diorama combines screen-printed wallpaper, fabric, embroidered mattresses and blankets, watercolour and medallions made by printing photographs onto textile and embroidering over them.

Discover Marjon’s miniature world alongside the original book that inspired it.

📅 Free to visit from 18 September to 23 October 2026
📍 Wellbeing Room, Inner City Library
🎟 No registration required; open on weekdays only

More information: umlib.nl/bttw

01/09/2026

Meet the artist: Petra Poolen

🎥 This video is in Dutch. Read the English summary below.

Petra Poolen’s journey into miniature worlds began at home. She lives in a former bakery from 1904 and decided to recreate its original shopfront as a diorama. After receiving many enthusiastic reactions, she created another miniature shop. When Caroline Jansen from Maastricht University Library’s Special Collections invited her to take part in Books, Tales & Tiny Worlds, Petra immediately said yes.

Petra has worked as an artist for thirty years, focusing on handmade paper for the past twenty. Japanese paper is a particular passion, while textile techniques such as sewing, embroidery and upholstery have increasingly become part of her work. A recurring theme in her practice is the idea that everything and everyone is made of stardust, and that we are all connected.

For this exhibition, Petra chose Hans Christian Andersen’s The Nightingale. Beyond its reflections on wealth and power, she was especially moved by its portrayal of friendship: in the emperor’s most vulnerable moment, the nightingale selflessly remains by his side.

Petra translated the story into an intricate miniature interior. She made paper from abaca fibres, printed it with a stencil of small birds and created everything from the parquet floor and upholstered furniture to embroidered cushions, tiny boots, lanterns and a crown. Some of the lanterns were made from treasured pieces of Korean Hanji and Japanese paper gifted to her by fellow artists.

Discover Petra’s work alongside the original book that inspired it at Books, Tales & Tiny Worlds.

📅 Free to visit from 18 September until the second half of October
📍 Wellbeing Room, Inner City Library
🎟 No registration required

The exhibition is open on weekdays only.

More information: umlib.nl/bttw

5 Intellectual Side Quests in UM Special Collections!1. Admire centuries-old artistry: Flip open an illuminated manuscri...
28/08/2026

5 Intellectual Side Quests in UM Special Collections!

1. Admire centuries-old artistry: Flip open an illuminated manuscript or an early printed text to examine hand-applied gold leaf, vibrant pigments and intricate marginalia. Back in the day, every single page was a feat of craft.

2. Become a thought detective: Open a Jesuit journal from our historic collection and start investigating the symbols, handwritten notes and visual clues left behind. 

3. Follow the rabbit hole until it gets weird: Pick an obscure frontispiece or cryptic Latin engraving and start digging in. Follow the clues until you land in a completely unexpected forgotten corner of history.

4. Learn about local history (it’s probably a bit weird too): Look back across a thousand years of local lore. Local history hits completely differently when you uncover the myths and original accounts of the people who walked the streets long before us.

5. Explore a place long ago: Pull out an antiquated travel guide and spend time meandering old street names, attractions and activities. Compare the past to the present - what’s stayed the same, and what has changed beyond recognition? 

Which side quest are you running first? 📚

25/08/2026

📸 Snapshots of Japan’s history, through a Western lens.

🗾 This first and only Dutch edition of Rudolf Lindau’s “Japan: eene reisbeschrijving” (1865) describes the country during the Bakumatsu (1853–1868), the final years of the Tokugawa shogunate. The account documents the political shifts in the wake of Commodore Matthew Perry’s arrival and the 1854 Treaty of Kanagawa, which paved the way for the Meiji Restoration.

🎎 Rudolf Lindau (1829–1910), a German diplomat and writer, accompanied the first Swiss delegation to Japan on 28 April 1859. In this book, he recorded his observations on Japanese politics, culture, and everyday life.

📷 The title page’s tinted lithograph is said to have been made after a photograph. Photography had only recently been introduced to Japan, and very few photographs from the 1850s survive, making this image a rare record of one of the earliest photographs in the country.

📝 This Dutch edition includes a preface by Nishi Amane (1829–1897), an influential Japanese philospher. Sent to Leiden in 1862 to study law and economics, Nishi later played a central role in introducing Western thought to Japan. In his preface, he praises Lindau’s account as being remarkably accurate compared with earlier European descriptions, while noting that a few errors remain. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, Amane’s preface alerts us to the importance of perspective when assessing the accuracy of historical sources - exactly because records can be damaged or tinted by particular ways of seeing.

24/08/2026

Books, Tales and Tiny Worlds opens on 17 September. ✨

Three artists have taken inspiration from historical fairy-tale books in Maastricht University Special Collections and transformed their stories and illustrations into miniature worlds. The original books and the newly created dioramas will soon be displayed side by side.

📅 Opening: Thursday 17 September, 16:00-17:30
📍 Wellbeing Room, Inner City Library
🗓 Exhibition on view until mid-October
🎟 Free admission | Registration for the opening is required

Students, employees and other interested visitors are warmly invited to attend.

Link in bio

Artists✨




20/08/2026

Books, Tales and Tiny Worlds opens on 17 September✨

Three artists have taken inspiration from historical fairy-tale books in Maastricht University Special Collections and transformed their stories and illustrations into miniature worlds. The original books and the newly created dioramas will soon be displayed side by side.

📅 Opening: Thursday 17 September, 16:00-17:30
📍 Wellbeing Room, Inner City Library
🗓 Exhibition on view until mid-October
🎟 Free admission | Registration for the opening is required

Students, employees and other interested visitors are warmly invited to attend.

More info & registration for the opening:
https://library.maastrichtuniversity.nl/events/exhibition-opening-books-tales-and-tiny-worlds/

12/08/2026

“The true observer is always a person who has lost his own identity,” a reminder to put ourselves in other people’s shoes? 🌎💭

🕌 Before the Royal Danish expedition (1760-1767), little was known to Europeans about the Arabian Peninsula. Sponsored by Danish King Frederick, a multi-disciplinary group of six men, among them German lieutanant Carsten Niebuhr (1733-1815), set out to change that in 1760.

🗺️ The expedition had five goals:

1) Explore the geography of Arabia
2) Record the plants and animals en route
3) Describe the habits, customs and architecture of the people
4) Learn about diseases and remedies peculiar to the region
5) Collect as many antique books and manuscripts as possible - perhaps especially interesting to the book collectors among us 📚

🧭 From Egypt over India to Palestine, Niebuhr encountered all that was new with an open mind, making accurate maps and observations of the region, which greatly contributed to Western understandings of the Arabian Peninsula and neighbouring areas.

📖 Niebuhr, C., Steven Jacobus (Amsterdam), Johannes van (Utrecht), Bartholomeus (Utrecht), & Johan Joseph (Utrecht). (1780). Reize naar Arabië en andere omliggende landen.

11/08/2026

“Cultures are not good or bad - they are just different,” Niebuhr’s diary reads, a valuable reminder to not let prejudice cloud our minds. 🌎💭

🕌 Before the Royal Danish expedition (1760-1767), little was known to Europeans about the Arabian Peninsula. Sponsored by Danish King Frederick, a multi-disciplinary group of six men, among them German lieutanant Carsten Niebuhr (1733-1815), set out to change that in 1760.

🗺️ The expedition had five goals:

1) Explore the geography of Arabia
2) Record the plants and animals en route
3) Describe the habits, customs and architecture of the people
4) Learn about diseases and remedies peculiar to the region
5) Collect as many antique books and manuscripts as possible - perhaps especially interesting to the book collectors among us 📚

🧭 From Egypt over India to Palestine, Niebuhr encountered all that was new with an open mind, making accurate maps and observations of the region, which greatly contributed to Western understandings of the Arabian Peninsula and neighbouring areas.

📖 Niebuhr, C., Steven Jacobus (Amsterdam), Johannes van (Utrecht), Bartholomeus (Utrecht), & Johan Joseph (Utrecht). (1780). Reize naar Arabië en andere omliggende landen.

04/08/2026

The most popular maritime adventure book of the 18th century? ⛵⚔️

In 1740, George Anson set out on a privateering mission that led him to circumnavigate the globe, a voyage that cost the lives of most of his crew.

In the 18th century, the Americas were well-known for its many riches that the Spanish were shipping en masse to the European continent. Of course, the British wanted a piece of the pie as well, culminating in the War of Jenkin’s Ear (1739-1748). Anson’s expedition aimed at disrupting Spanish commerce in the Pacific by capturing Callao and if possible, Lima, take Panama and the Manila galleon from Acapulco, and lead a Peruvian revolt against the Spanish, an ambitious mission without doubt.

Nonetheless, a squadron of six ships left England bound for South America on September 18th. It is a story of shipwreck, mutiny, conquest, and survival.

Is it surprising that Anson’s adventures became so popular? We would say this is the stuff movies are nowadays made of. Moreover, at the time, little was known about the regions around the southern tip of South America, making this travel account even more captivating. There is of course much more to the story, so, if you’d like to know all the details, we recommend reading this book.

📖 Anson, G., Walter, R., & Isaak (Amsterdam). (1748). Reize rondsom de werreld: gedaan in de jaaren 1740 tot 1744, door den Heere George Anson, opperbevelhebber over een esquader Engelsche schepen op een expeditie naar de Zuidzee.

31/07/2026

🔊 A unique soundscape: pages turning, wheels rattling, scanners peeping, covers cracking, muffled voices, tour guides talking, rhythmic buzzing. Despite what many may think, the archive is never really silent.

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