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Preface

In 1998 Professor C.H. van Schooneveld (Vozérier-Amancy, France) dona ted his personal archive which consists of about 35 meters of materials to Leiden University Library. The major part of the material is related to the work he did from 1953 to about 1982 as editor of the series Slavistic print ings and reprintings, De proprietatibus litterarum and Janua linguarum, which were published by Mouton & Co., the publishing house formerly in The Hague. In addition to thousands of editor’s files the collection consists of many other items related to Mouton, one of the most influential schol arly publishing houses our country has known. The collection also includes, among other things, the extensive professional correspondence which Van Schooneveld conducted over the course of his long academic career. He was professor of Slavic languages from 1952 to 1986, first at Leiden University, then at Stanford University in California, and finally at Indiana University in Bloomington. To make this extensive and important collection public to as wide an audience as possible a selection of these items is being presented during an exhibition at the University Library. This book, which clarifies and makes this collection accessible in different ways, is being published in conjunction with this. We owe much thanks to Dr. Jan Paul Hinrichs, Slavic librarian at the University Library. He not only played an important role in the acquisition of this collection, but he also organized and described the material when it arrived in Leiden. He is also the author of the major part of the book. The organization and description of the material has been guided from the beginning by Dr. A. Th. Bouwman, keeper of Western manuscripts at the University Library. We also extend our thanks for his contribution to the development of this book, to which he also provided two chapters that fur ther bring the collection to public attention. Thanks go also to John Rodenburg of the storage management staff, who assisted with the organi zation of the many files.