Promotiecommissie
Prof. Dr. F.H. van Lunteren (promotor, Universiteit Leiden)
Prof. Dr. D. van Delft (Universiteit Leiden)
Prof. Dr. P J. ter Keurs (Universiteit Leiden)
Dr. D.J. Meijers (Universiteit van Amsterdam)
Prof. dr. W.W. Mijnhardt (Universiteit Utrecht)
Prof. Dr. H.J.A. Rôttgering (Universiteit Leiden)
Prof. Dr. L.T.G. Theunissen (Universiteit Utrecht)
Dr. H.J. Zuidervaart (Huygens Instituut voor Nederlandse Geschiedenis)
Prof. Dr. R. Zwijnenberg (Universiteit Leiden)
Acknowledgements
This PhD was not written in isolation. Throughout the course of this project I received an
unquantifiable amount of support — intellectual, financial and moral — from innumerable
colleagues and friends. Some of them I hope to be able to acknowledge here.
First and foremost, I owe a debt of gratitude to Frans van Lunteren: for the numerous fruitful
discussions, his stimulating advice, his unwavering support, and the intellectual freedom he
provided throughout the course of this project. Moreover, he was always available and
prepared to help at times others would have considered “impossible”.
I am also very grateful to many others who were selflessly prepared to read and discuss
preliminary studies to, early versions of, and articles related to the manuscript. Azadeh
Achbari, David Baneke, Danny Beckers, Ellinoor Bergvelt, Astrid Elbers, Marieke
Hendriksen, Hieke Huistra, Eric Jorink, Rina Knoeff, Debora Meijers, Wijnand Mijnhardt,
Ilja Nieuwland, Ida Stamhuis, Abel Streefland, Bert Theunissen, Lieske Tibbe, Andreas
Weber, Daan Wegener, Huib Zuidervaart and Rob Zwijnenberg provided crucial advice
during various stages of my research and were greatly cherished sparring partners.
I learnt a lot - particularly about the history of collections, the history of public life, and the
history of science — during many thought-provoking and enjoyable discussions with Liang de
Beer, Tiemen Cocquyt, Aijen Dijkstra, Marieke van der Duin, Eulàlia Gassô Miracle, Esther
van Gelder, Claudia Horsier, Mirjam Hoijtink, Catharine de Jong, Bart Karstens, Pieter ter
Keurs, Saskia Klerk, Michael Korey, Ad Maas, Mark Meadow, Donna Mehos, Tim Nicolaije,
Liesbet Nys, Bert de Roemer, Minou Schraven, Fenneke Sysling, Rob Visser, John de Vos
and Robert-Jan Wille.
The conferences, master classes and seminars which I attended over the course of my research
provided the setting for a host of valuable and encouraging discussions with many experts
from all fields - including some already mentioned above. They would not have taken place
without the work of the staff of the Huizinga-Institute and the organisers of events in
Montréal, Kassel, Leeds, Aberdeen, Philadelphia, Cologne, Woudschoten, Leiden, Haarlem
and Utrecht.
At Teylers Museum, I was treated practically like a member of the staff. I received far-
reaching support of the museum’s director, Marjan Scharloo. The discussions with her,
Annemarie ten Cate, Terry van Druten, Marijn van Hoorn, Jan Pelsdonk, Michiel Plomp, Bert
Sliggers and especially Geert-Jan Janse helped understand and contextualise much of what I
found in the museum’s archives. The unconditional support of all those already mentioned,
together with that of Cecile Arnold, Jeff Borkent, Froukje Budding, Renske Compagner,
Gerda Doorlag, Robien van Gulik, Linda Ijpelaar, Bea de Koning, Fieke Kroon, Celeste
Langedijk, Wouter Meyboom, Raymon Moore, Fred Pelt, Herman Voogd, Hilde Werner,
Hans van der Wiele, Ruud van Zutphen andB- like no other 1 Martijn Zegel, along with
literally the entire remainder of the museum’s staff, was an immense help.