Tuesday, August 19, 2014

Spinoza House, Rijnsburg

Spinoza's book collection, reassembled by the museum.
During our recent trip to Holland, we visited the Spinoza House in Rijnsburg, near Leiden where we were staying. Spinoza lived in this house from 1661 to 1663; for centuries this bit of history was forgotten, but the connection was rediscovered in 1896, and the museum was established. The Spinoza Society, founded to maintain a museum here, have collected contemporary copies of the books that were listed among Spinoza's possessions.

A corner of the room where
the library is located.
A lens-grinding apparatus, supposedly like that of Spinoza.
Spoon rack from that era.
Portrait of Spinoza, presumably a copy.
Tiled floor and baseboard in hall of the house.
Statue of Spinoza in the garden.
Outside the house -- our friends are getting ready to ride bikes
back to Leiden; we took the bus.

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