In 1849, the year of its foundation, the Royal Dutch Medical Association (KNMG) started a library in the field of the history of medicine in the Netherlands. Already in 1855 the KNMG decided to give the collection on loan to the Amsterdam University Library.

In its field it is the largest collection in the world and it has achieved a high degree completeness. It is a research collection comprising approximately 36,000 works (manuscripts, early printed books, more recent literature and professional journals). The presence of this loan stimulated the arrival of other loans and donations in this area.

Main focus

• Works by Dutch authors on medicine and its auxiliary sciences, including also editions published abroad and translations.
• Medical works by foreign authors, published in the Netherlands (and its former colonies).
• Writings on the history of Dutch medicine.

Staff

KNMG librarian:
Prof. Dr M.J. van Lieburg (Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam)
email: mj.vanlieburg@consunet.nl