From Illustrious School to University of Amsterdam

If Gerard Vossius and Caspar Barlaeus, the two scholars who founded the Athenaeum Illustre in 1632, were to return to the school today, would they recognize much of their humble scholastic roots in what has become today’s University of Amsterdam? More likely, they would stand amazed at the sheer scale of the university, its growing numbers of female staff and students, and its broadening concept of scholarship. This wonderfully readable and fully illustrated history of the University of Amsterdam recounts the change in worldview, educational content, and scholastic frontiers from the day of Vossius and Barlaeus to the present, exploring how scholars and students understood and performed their tasks, what their day-to-day life was like, and how both groups located themselves within Amsterdam society.