Exactly two hundred years and one day after its inauguration, the KB, national library of the Netherlands, is opening a large-scale bicentennial exhibition in the Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam. Visitors of Het wonderbaarlijk alfabet (The wonderful alphabet) in the monumental church on the Dam Square will see the largest bookcase in the world, measuring 40 by 9 metres. Furthermore, twenty-six areas have been created, one for each letter of the alphabet. The M for Madonna for instance contains beautiful miniatures from medieval manuscripts. The O for the House of Orange is a showcase for the most sumptuous books from the collection of the Stadholders. Your attention will also be drawn by a variety of children's books, newspapers, atlasses by Blaeu, songbooks and much, much more material from the Koninklijke Bibliotheek. If you are curious already, feel free to browse through the website of the Koninklijke Bibliotheek to sample impressions of the various collections in the national library of the Netherlands.
The exhibition is open for the public from August 19 to Oktober 18 1998. We sincerely hope you will have a wonderful voyage through our Dutch alphabet!
27 May 1998
For more information see: 'The wonderful alphabet', Amsterdam 1998