Leyden
Leyden names 3 different subjects across the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf. Each is set out below.
Leyden li'den, a city in the Netherlands
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
li'den, a city in the Netherlands. It is situated on the Old Rhine, six miles from the North Sea , about twenty minutes by rail from the Hague on the way to Amsterdam. The surrounding country is below sea level and is protected by dikes. In 1573 the city was besieged by the Spaniards and was saved by William of Orange who cut the dikes and drove the Spanish army out by a flood. The neighborhood is a fine dairy region with picturesque canals, windmills, gardens, and meadows. The University of Leyden, founded in 1575, was long one of the most renowned in Europe. The Leyden jar was invented by one of the professors. There are still several hundred students. A botanic garden, an observatory, a library of 160,000 volumes, museums of natural history, art, and antiquities, are open to students and visitors. Leyden still has the quiet air of an academic city. Broad Street is one of the finest streets in Europe. The state-house is an interesting building. The front is imposing. Thirty windows are arranged in a straight line. In the time of the Elzevirs Leyden was the chief seat of the European book trade. It was the birthplace of Rembrandt and other celebrated painters. The Pilgrim fathers resided here in 1608-20, ere their departure for Plymouth. The early reputation of the city as a center of cloth manufacture has of late been revived. The Old Hall of the cloth merchants was one of the most beautiful buildings of the kind in Europe. The population is reported at 54,421.
Leyden a city on the city Rhine
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a city on the city Rhine, in South Holland; practically composed of small islands, which are nds, whi connected by at least 150 bridges. It by the contains a university, founded founded Prince of Orange in 1575, which was at 5, which one time one of the most celebrated in st collebe Europe. Among its pupils were Des- Goldsmith, and pils wer cartes, Arminus, Grotius, of Galdame others. It has a valuable library able libr over 100,000 volumes, with 14,000 MSS., ith 141,000 of which about 2,000 are Arabic, besides Arabic, many scientific collections. Printing was formerly one hief ind Pop. about 60,000.
Leyden JOHN, a Scotch Oriental- Scotch O ist
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
JOHN, a Scotch Oriental- Scotch O ist; born in Denholm, Sept. 8, 1775. Sept. & metlica he his in Oriental languages led to an appointment as Proly Indo fessor College "An Historical Account of Discoveries in and Sayre Institute; contains a Protesand Western Africa" (1789), f Disco Northern of Infancy," a poem; and a num- Africa" " Scenes ballads, which were much em; and ber of Scotch by Sir Walter Scott and others. hich we admired cott anc He died at Batavia, Java, Aug. 28, 1811.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
Aiton's 1910 entry reports "several hundred students" at the university and a population of 54,421; Collier's in 1921 gave about 60,000. Leiden (the modern Dutch spelling now standard in English) has roughly 125,000 inhabitants, and its university enrols well over 30,000 students, making it one of the largest in the Netherlands rather than a quiet academic backwater. The city was occupied by Germany from 1940 to 1945, and the university closed itself in November 1940 after the law professor Rudolph Cleveringa protested publicly against the dismissal of Jewish colleagues — an act still commemorated there each year. The Pilgrim connection that Aiton's notes in passing has since become a tourist industry of its own, marked by the American Pilgrim Museum and the 2020 quatercentenary of the Mayflower sailing.
Written for this edition, 2026.