Acknowledgements

Thanks go first of all to the students who participated in the seminar. They familiarized themselves with ‘Blaeu’s world’ in no time and, in doing so, linked up cultural and historical theory with book historical practice. For many of these students, it was their first foray into seventeenth-century Dutch, with all its linguistic complexities.

Thanks are due also to the staff of Special Collections in the University of Groningen Library. Although the students used an online version of Grooten Atlas for their research, it was a rewarding experience for them to see ‘the real thing’ and to establish for themselves that the publication was a luxury product catering exclusively to the rich.

The students were also given access to the original volumes of Blaeu’s Atlas during a working visit to the Research Library of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, which included a tour of the museum and its library by Alex Alsemgeest, Curator of Library Collections, and Harm Stevens, Curator at the museum’s History Department (20th century). They explained to the students how complex it can be to summarize historical narratives into concise and engaging content for today’s audiences, and how to weigh what to include and exclude. They also addressed the current debate about repatriating museum artefacts. Their insightful comments were much appreciated.

Finally, thanks go to the team at Groningen University Press and the Open Education team at the University of Groningen Library who embraced this project, provided technical support and provided all kinds of practical tools to convert the digital exhibition into this Open Textbook.