'A Sublime Treasure of Pretious Manuscripts': the Schultens's legacy in the Leiden University Library and the elusive purchase of 1806

摘要

Using university archives and library catalogues as well as letters and diaries belonging to the Schultens, a Dutch family that produced three generations of outstanding Arabists in the 18th Century, this article looks at the circumstances surrounding the purchase of some annotated dictionaries and manuscripts by Leiden University Library.