Leiden University owns extensive collections of portraits. These include around a hundred painted portraits of scholars, librarians and professors and around 30,000 prints of scholars, politicians, rulers, artists, writers and other persons of fame. A smaller partial collection is that of writers, belonging…

The Middle Eastern Library is located on the ground floor of the new Herta Mohr Building at Witte Singel.

In the course of over four centuries the book collections have been greatly enlarged thanks to the bequests and grants or the purchases from the propriety of scholars or private collectors. Sometimes it concerned collections with thousands of early printed books, such as the purchase of the library…

UBL's collection exists to a large extent thanks to donations and financial support from private donors and funds.

Uniquely within the Netherlands, Leiden University Library also collects objects to document the technical development of photography. Hundreds of historical cameras are part of the colletion, as well as darkroom and finishing equipment (light meters, developing trays, color filters, drying racks, etcetera),…

What we now call ‘early printed books’ used to be ‘modern’ works in former centuries.

Do you have books, manuscripts, and other materials and are considering donating them to UBL? If so, please get in touch with us.

The Western manuscript, archival and letter collections consist of books and documents written in Latin, Greek and Cyrillic script.

Overview of databases, reference works and websites for research in Dutch language and culture.

Overview of databases, reference works and websites for research in German language and culture.

The research suggestions below may be suitable for a bachelor's or master's thesis or can be used as additional source material in ongoing research.

Overview of databases, reference works and websites for research in Urban Studies

The UBL holds seven collections recognised by UNESCO as documents of universal value and exceptional significance to the world. Six are included in UNESCO's International World Heritage list of documents or Memory of the World Register, one in the Dutch UNESCO register.

Overview of databases, reference works and websites for research in African Studies

The library holds an extensive collection of books, journals, and other materials to support your studies.

Address Bibliotheca Thysiana Rapenburg 25 2311 GG Leiden

Leiden University Libraries (UBL) is an internationally recognised research library with world-class collections and advanced services for education and research. The UBL provides these scholarly information services as a trusted partner in knowledge for researchers, teachers and students. We create…

Leiden University Libraries (UBL) works together with authors and publishers regularly and supports publication of books about the collections. Publications can be obtained from bookshops or publishers. You can also order publications via email (plaatsing@library.leidenuniv.nl). Please give the following…

The fellowship programs support researchers who are interested in doing research using the special collections.

Overview of databases, reference works and websites for research in Linguistics

Overview of databases, reference works and websites for research in Caribbean Studies

Library staff will select, acquire, catalogue and manage materials to support teaching, learning and research at Leiden University. We aim to have all required study literature available online or in print at the beginning of the semester. Do you think that some titles are missing? Contact your…

The core business of the UBL is to support research and education by making information available and accessible in a sustainable and open manner. In addition, the UBL also has a social, cultural and international role, partly because of the heritage it manages. To this end, we offer a digital and physical…

The Asian Library holds the largest collection on Indonesia worldwide, and some of the foremost collections on South and Southeast Asia, China, Japan and Korea.

Our collections contain many materials that are old, fragile, light-sensitive, maltreated in the past or much used and therefore tattered. Other items may be hundreds of years old and still be in sound condition. We aim to have all collections available as much as possible, while we also preserve them…

Overview of databases, reference works and websites for Research in Russian and Eurasian Studies

Overview of databases, reference works and websites for research in Chinese Studies

Leiden is a knowledge hub, unique in its kind in the Netherlands, for academics, professionals, students and all other people who are specialized or interested in photography. The city and university offer:

Overview of databases, reference works and websites for research in Italian Language and Culture

Overview of databases, reference works and websites for research in Mathematics

In 2022, Leiden was European City of Science. During this year, Leiden presented a public programme brimming with science, knowledge, arts, and skills for anyone with a curious mind. Leiden University Libraries (UBL) organised an extensive programme of activities on the theme of Leiden European City…

Anyone wishing to make a substantial contribution to Leiden University Libraries can have the donation earmarked for a specific purpose. You can set up this fund to support a specific collection or research area. These so-called Named Funds are therefore always customized. It is also possible to donate…

Library exhibitions, both online and physical, give an idea of the breadth of our collections.

With its more than 1400 bindings and over a thousand fragments Leiden’s collection of medieval manuscripts (up to ca. 1550) is the largest in the Netherlands.