News
Unique gifts for Special Collections
Last year, the Special Collections department of WUR Library received a number of wonderful gifts. Here, we'd like to highlight some of these remarkable additions to our collection.
Gifts for the collection
The Special Collections of the WUR Library holds beautiful academic heritage material related to the research and education fields of WUR. Occasionally, people donate interesting books, drawings or other materials, such as maps, to add to the collection. These gifts can come from current and former WUR employees or from the general public and are often bequests to the university.
Special gifts received this last year
We are grateful for all special gifts we received this year. The following items are just a small selection:
- An apple drawing from 1899, called 'Ananas' (pineapple). In the early 20th century a series of drawings of apple and pear varieties and other fruit were used in lectures at the Rijkslandbouwschool and its successors in Wageningen. The drawing is signed GBvL. We assume that this drawing was once part of the library collection.
- A very small booklet for the youth: "Nieuw geschenk voor de jeugd", part 5 from a series. It's an interesting guide, with maps, about the Veluwe including Wageningen, and written as a question and answer text by the Dutch scientist Joannis Florentius Martinet. It was published in 1797.
- Two wall charts on meat parts from cows, calfs and pigs, published by C. Misset, Doetinchem.
How does Special Collections handle gifts?
The Library welcomes additions to its collections. However, gifts must meet certain criteria to be accepted. We always carefully review proposed gifts. After a positive assessment, we check the material for bugs, such as the gray silverfish and other paper 'diseases'. We then safely store and preserve the objects in the Library’s specially climate-controlled stacks.
Furthermore, Special Collections encourages the use of the received material for research and educational purposes. We check which researchers from WUR or other universities may be interested in the book or document. We then investigate if the material can be digitised and make it publicly available through the WUR Image Collections. We also try to show the gift in one of the many live or online exhibitions of Special Collections.
The Library's policy for gifts
The Library welcomes gifts to its collections. Please consult our policy for gifts. We are particularly interested in donations of pre-1900 and rare material, for example photographs or drawings that fall within WUR's areas of specialty. If you would like to donate old or rare material, we'd be happy to discuss the possibilities. Please send an email to the Special Collections curator to get in touch.