Bird book exhibition in The Hague, the Netherlands

Birds: Thousand years of birds in hundreds of books

Translated from Meermanno museum in The Hague in the Netherlands:

Birds: Thousand years of birds in hundreds of books

Royal Library and Museum Meermanno show special bird books

From August 29th, 2014 till January 4, 2015, the Royal Library (KB) and Museum Meermanno have a major exhibition on birds in books. The exhibition takes place at Museum Meermanno in The Hague.

At this special exhibition, rare bird books will be on display from ten centuries of book history, in six large rooms in the historic building of Museum Meermanno. The books are from the rich collections of the KB and Meermanno Museum.

The exhibition shows a broad overview of birds as the subjects of books, artwork and band decorations. From a tenth-century illustrated medieval manuscript, via a beautiful seventeenth-century scientific publications to books on falconry, pet birds and birds in literature and poetry.

There are also cookbooks to see about tasty fowl and curious books on various aspects of the birds: first aid for birds, sport with birds and travel books to bird colonies.

All types are covered: Dutch birds from chicken to great tit, exotic varieties from flamingos to penguins but also biblical and mythological flying animals.

Masterpieces

The following highlights are included: Der naturen bloeme by Jacob van Maerlant (around 1350), Ornithologia by Ulisse Aldrovandi (around 1600) and Chassidische legenden by Hendrik Nicolaas Werkman (1943-1944). The impressive book Nederlandsche vogelen by Nozemann and Sepp (1770-1829) was published in October 2014 in facsimile by Lannoo (www.nederlandschevogelen.nl).

Originally, there were plans for a photo opportunity with a bird of prey in the museum. After the The Hague branch of the Party for the Animals pointed out such an event would cause stress for the bird, the plan was canceled.