[Cohsl-list] Dutch Library Fire

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Everett Wilkie <ewilkie(a)ix.netcom.com> Date: Fri, May 16, 2008 at 9:31 AM This message appeared on another list today. --ECW +++++++++++++++++++++++ Last Tuesday 13 May a big cloud was hanging over my hometown of Delft when I was returning home from Utrecht. There was a big fire in the Faculty of Architecture (Faculteit Bouwkunde) of the Technical University Delft. It started in the morning, and around 5 PM a part of the building collapsed. All people were in time out of the building, so there are no persons injured. The Faculty has (or must I sadly write: had) one of the most important libraries in the field of Architecture, with 40,000 books including several atlases (Blaeu, Braun & Hogenberg), and a map collection of 12,000 maps (topographical maps of the 19th century, soil maps, planning maps of the Noordoostpolder, Berlage's plans of the new parts of Amsterdam and The Hague, and the plans for the rebuilding of Rotterdam after WW II). The older maps (pre-1850) were stored in the University Library. The fate of the library is not known yet. The map curator, Addie Ritter, wrote that his depot is almost certainly destroyed, since it was in the part of the building that collapsed. The library, which was on the ground flour of a different wing of the building, is not accessible because the building is instable. It can take three to four weeks before it may be entered (the building of 14 stories has to be demolished first). The older books were in a safe, but if that saved them is unknown (the fire lasted for about 24 hours). There was also a collection of chairs of famous designers and maquettes of architects - there would be an exhibit opened yesterday 15 May. That collection is saved for the major part. Report (in Dutch naturally) and photos of this fire at the Technische Universiteit Delft, with links to newspaper articles: http://www.historischecartografie.nl/Logboek/Nieuws/Brand-TU-Delft-vernietig t-kaartencollectie.html Peter -- June Samaras KALAMOS BOOKS (For Books about Greece) 2020 Old Station Rd Streetsville,Ontario Canada L5M 2V1 Tel : 905-542-1877 E-mail : kalamosbooks(a)gmail.com www.kalamosbooks.com