Album amicorum of Petrus Scriverius

The Haarlem-born historian and poet Petrus Scriverius (1576-1660) maintained close contacts with many scholars, although he never held a university position. For example, his album contains contributions by Josephus Justus Scaliger, Janus Dousa and Hugo de Groot, but also by poets such as Jan Jansz. Starter and Joost van den Vondel.

The most beautiful drawing in the booklet is that of the Grote Markt in Haarlem. Pieter Saenredam, famous for his church interiors, drew this scene in 1629. It shows the row of facades from the Hoofdwacht on the left to the Jansstraat. The castle-like building on the right was later viewed with some suspicion, but research shows that in Saenredam's time the 'Huis metten Toerne' dating from the fifteenth century indeed still stood on that spot. Thanks to this drawing, we now know just about what it looked like.

Album amicorum by Petrus Scriverius. 86 contributions, 1601-1638, Netherlands. Request number: 133 M 5