Zanna Van Loon
@zannavanloon.bsky.social
Curator of rare books and manuscripts at Museum Plantin-Moretus ❦ Doctor in early modern history ❦ Book historian and bibliographer ❦ Research on the materiality of early modern books
And then there was day 3 in the sun-soaked garden and auditorium of the Rubenshuis with our final set of sessions focusing on research methodologies, physical spaces of production, and how women represented themselves in the world of books!
November 7, 2025 at 12:40 PM
And then there was day 3 in the sun-soaked garden and auditorium of the Rubenshuis with our final set of sessions focusing on research methodologies, physical spaces of production, and how women represented themselves in the world of books!
What a day! Had a great time hearing all these specialists talk about the self-evident involvement of women in the book production. Now time for dinner at the most beautiful location at the Samenloop restaurant housed in the former Maiden’s House of Antwerp!
November 6, 2025 at 8:00 PM
What a day! Had a great time hearing all these specialists talk about the self-evident involvement of women in the book production. Now time for dinner at the most beautiful location at the Samenloop restaurant housed in the former Maiden’s House of Antwerp!
2) Seventeenth-century copy of the St John’s Gospel in an envelop binding!
October 31, 2025 at 12:07 PM
2) Seventeenth-century copy of the St John’s Gospel in an envelop binding!
Spilled my coffee travel mug in my backpack this morning - can you imagine the horror - so let’s just say some time with these wonderful #earlymodern miniature books was very much needed!
1) Gregorian Calendar (1585)
#rarebooks #bookhistory 💙📚📜
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1) Gregorian Calendar (1585)
#rarebooks #bookhistory 💙📚📜
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October 31, 2025 at 12:07 PM
Spilled my coffee travel mug in my backpack this morning - can you imagine the horror - so let’s just say some time with these wonderful #earlymodern miniature books was very much needed!
1) Gregorian Calendar (1585)
#rarebooks #bookhistory 💙📚📜
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1) Gregorian Calendar (1585)
#rarebooks #bookhistory 💙📚📜
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This parchment is FUR REAL!
Remnants of animal hair on a parchment leaf originally intended as the exterior of the earlier binding for a 13th-century manuscript with English origin containing theological texts of Guillaume Peyraud, William of Tournai, Hugh of St Victor, and Richard of St Victor.
Remnants of animal hair on a parchment leaf originally intended as the exterior of the earlier binding for a 13th-century manuscript with English origin containing theological texts of Guillaume Peyraud, William of Tournai, Hugh of St Victor, and Richard of St Victor.
![First folio of the manuscript written in the Gothic script in two colums starting with 'Incipit t[ra]ctat[us moralis de vii vitiis capitalibus...](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:hoi7rsxw4y2k74pdmuqwxfhp/bafkreif2iagq2v6veqz6b3opzzkkn7hqw7pktwmgu4nzw7ioqnbomoadde@jpeg)
October 23, 2025 at 12:49 PM
This parchment is FUR REAL!
Remnants of animal hair on a parchment leaf originally intended as the exterior of the earlier binding for a 13th-century manuscript with English origin containing theological texts of Guillaume Peyraud, William of Tournai, Hugh of St Victor, and Richard of St Victor.
Remnants of animal hair on a parchment leaf originally intended as the exterior of the earlier binding for a 13th-century manuscript with English origin containing theological texts of Guillaume Peyraud, William of Tournai, Hugh of St Victor, and Richard of St Victor.
A bundle of miscellaneous papers once belonging to Abraham Ortelius with letters & working notes, and a rudimentary sketch of the Strait of Gibraltar, demonstrating how he envisioned depicting the meeting point of the Atlantic and the Mediterranean for his world atlas.
#bookhistory #rarebooks 💙📚📜
#bookhistory #rarebooks 💙📚📜
October 21, 2025 at 3:31 PM
A bundle of miscellaneous papers once belonging to Abraham Ortelius with letters & working notes, and a rudimentary sketch of the Strait of Gibraltar, demonstrating how he envisioned depicting the meeting point of the Atlantic and the Mediterranean for his world atlas.
#bookhistory #rarebooks 💙📚📜
#bookhistory #rarebooks 💙📚📜
Typographic apparitions 👻
Spotted in a 1498 Cologne missal: a case of off-set printing, where ink from the forme (or from another printed page?) accidentally transferred onto these printed page.
#bookhistory #rarebooks 💙📚📜
Spotted in a 1498 Cologne missal: a case of off-set printing, where ink from the forme (or from another printed page?) accidentally transferred onto these printed page.
#bookhistory #rarebooks 💙📚📜
October 8, 2025 at 3:09 PM
Typographic apparitions 👻
Spotted in a 1498 Cologne missal: a case of off-set printing, where ink from the forme (or from another printed page?) accidentally transferred onto these printed page.
#bookhistory #rarebooks 💙📚📜
Spotted in a 1498 Cologne missal: a case of off-set printing, where ink from the forme (or from another printed page?) accidentally transferred onto these printed page.
#bookhistory #rarebooks 💙📚📜
Making a case for every museum to have a resident museum cat. Meet Nuno, who literally owns the ruins of the Carmo Convent in Lisbon!
The convent was destroyed in a fire after the great earthquake in 1755.
#earlymodern
The convent was destroyed in a fire after the great earthquake in 1755.
#earlymodern
October 3, 2025 at 10:54 AM
Making a case for every museum to have a resident museum cat. Meet Nuno, who literally owns the ruins of the Carmo Convent in Lisbon!
The convent was destroyed in a fire after the great earthquake in 1755.
#earlymodern
The convent was destroyed in a fire after the great earthquake in 1755.
#earlymodern
☞☞ Hands-on reading ☜☜
The manicules in #rarebooks are fantastically diverse. Some are tiny & discreet, others take up half the margin; some have flowing sleeves, or even little faces.
They’re glimpses into the personality of readers/scribes highlighting passages worth reading.
#bookhistory 💙📚📜
The manicules in #rarebooks are fantastically diverse. Some are tiny & discreet, others take up half the margin; some have flowing sleeves, or even little faces.
They’re glimpses into the personality of readers/scribes highlighting passages worth reading.
#bookhistory 💙📚📜
September 30, 2025 at 3:31 PM
☞☞ Hands-on reading ☜☜
The manicules in #rarebooks are fantastically diverse. Some are tiny & discreet, others take up half the margin; some have flowing sleeves, or even little faces.
They’re glimpses into the personality of readers/scribes highlighting passages worth reading.
#bookhistory 💙📚📜
The manicules in #rarebooks are fantastically diverse. Some are tiny & discreet, others take up half the margin; some have flowing sleeves, or even little faces.
They’re glimpses into the personality of readers/scribes highlighting passages worth reading.
#bookhistory 💙📚📜
A 17th-century bookbinding in full bloom!
While screening the collections for books to show during a hands-on workshop on historical bookbindings, we stumbled upon this devotional book bound in a beautiful embroidered binding featuring flowers, usually associated with female makers and/or owners.
While screening the collections for books to show during a hands-on workshop on historical bookbindings, we stumbled upon this devotional book bound in a beautiful embroidered binding featuring flowers, usually associated with female makers and/or owners.
September 23, 2025 at 2:47 PM
A 17th-century bookbinding in full bloom!
While screening the collections for books to show during a hands-on workshop on historical bookbindings, we stumbled upon this devotional book bound in a beautiful embroidered binding featuring flowers, usually associated with female makers and/or owners.
While screening the collections for books to show during a hands-on workshop on historical bookbindings, we stumbled upon this devotional book bound in a beautiful embroidered binding featuring flowers, usually associated with female makers and/or owners.
Book conservator Mitchel Gundrum of The Huntington Library is currently studying the manuscript as a Nottebohm fellow to trace the development of #earlymodern historical bookbinding techniques!
#rarebooks #bookhistory 💙📚📜
#rarebooks #bookhistory 💙📚📜
September 18, 2025 at 10:46 AM
Book conservator Mitchel Gundrum of The Huntington Library is currently studying the manuscript as a Nottebohm fellow to trace the development of #earlymodern historical bookbinding techniques!
#rarebooks #bookhistory 💙📚📜
#rarebooks #bookhistory 💙📚📜
Faust was a German-born bookbinder and bookseller. He lived in Antwerp a while before moving to Diest around 1613. Historical traces are scarce he appears in the ledgers of the Plantin Press, but little else.
September 18, 2025 at 10:46 AM
Faust was a German-born bookbinder and bookseller. He lived in Antwerp a while before moving to Diest around 1613. Historical traces are scarce he appears in the ledgers of the Plantin Press, but little else.
This manuscript by Anselmus Faust, dated 1612, is the oldest surviving European manual on bookbinding. Written in Latin & Dutch, it was created for the St Bernard's Abbey near Antwerp.
What makes it especially unique is its rare dos à dos binding: 2 books bound back-to-back, sharing a single spine.
What makes it especially unique is its rare dos à dos binding: 2 books bound back-to-back, sharing a single spine.
September 18, 2025 at 10:46 AM
This manuscript by Anselmus Faust, dated 1612, is the oldest surviving European manual on bookbinding. Written in Latin & Dutch, it was created for the St Bernard's Abbey near Antwerp.
What makes it especially unique is its rare dos à dos binding: 2 books bound back-to-back, sharing a single spine.
What makes it especially unique is its rare dos à dos binding: 2 books bound back-to-back, sharing a single spine.
Counting down until Saturday for the opening of Women’s Business/Business Women while adding the finishing touches… So excited to share this project in Museum Plantin-Moretus with the public!
All info: tinyurl.com/26tyw6r6
#skystorians #bookhistory
All info: tinyurl.com/26tyw6r6
#skystorians #bookhistory
September 9, 2025 at 5:55 PM
Counting down until Saturday for the opening of Women’s Business/Business Women while adding the finishing touches… So excited to share this project in Museum Plantin-Moretus with the public!
All info: tinyurl.com/26tyw6r6
#skystorians #bookhistory
All info: tinyurl.com/26tyw6r6
#skystorians #bookhistory
Interesting find at the back of this book: two #medieval manuscript fragments cut into shape and sewn together with white cord and two small patches. They form an L-shape, with the end of the longer piece rounded and reinforced.
Used as a bookmark? A reading aid? What do you think #skystorians?
Used as a bookmark? A reading aid? What do you think #skystorians?
August 27, 2025 at 5:44 PM
Interesting find at the back of this book: two #medieval manuscript fragments cut into shape and sewn together with white cord and two small patches. They form an L-shape, with the end of the longer piece rounded and reinforced.
Used as a bookmark? A reading aid? What do you think #skystorians?
Used as a bookmark? A reading aid? What do you think #skystorians?
Nothing like a hefty liturgical volume to make your Monday!
Oversaw the digitization of this chunky boy, a folio-format gradual, printed in 1617 and with an #earlymodern binding bearing the date ‘1629’.
#rarebooks #bookhistory 💙📚📜
Oversaw the digitization of this chunky boy, a folio-format gradual, printed in 1617 and with an #earlymodern binding bearing the date ‘1629’.
#rarebooks #bookhistory 💙📚📜
August 25, 2025 at 3:23 PM
Nothing like a hefty liturgical volume to make your Monday!
Oversaw the digitization of this chunky boy, a folio-format gradual, printed in 1617 and with an #earlymodern binding bearing the date ‘1629’.
#rarebooks #bookhistory 💙📚📜
Oversaw the digitization of this chunky boy, a folio-format gradual, printed in 1617 and with an #earlymodern binding bearing the date ‘1629’.
#rarebooks #bookhistory 💙📚📜
In the 15th century, a reader had drawn a soldier in armour in the margin: sword raised, ready to attack. Used across centuries, this #medieval manuscript was thus shaped by its readers.
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#bookhistory #rarebooks📜💙📚
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#bookhistory #rarebooks📜💙📚
August 21, 2025 at 11:09 AM
In the 15th century, a reader had drawn a soldier in armour in the margin: sword raised, ready to attack. Used across centuries, this #medieval manuscript was thus shaped by its readers.
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#bookhistory #rarebooks📜💙📚
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#bookhistory #rarebooks📜💙📚
Not all readers leave notes… Some leave with the folios.
In the 16th century, five folios, including the Liber Pamphili poetae, were cut from this 14th-C manuscript. A 16th-C note records the theft: 'Huius libri fur quidam postrema quinque folia abstulit [et Lauermione] cultru excisus.
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In the 16th century, five folios, including the Liber Pamphili poetae, were cut from this 14th-C manuscript. A 16th-C note records the theft: 'Huius libri fur quidam postrema quinque folia abstulit [et Lauermione] cultru excisus.
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![Flyleaf with a table of contents and a 15th-century hand explaining that the ‘Liber Pamphili poetae’ was cut out by a thief: “Huius libri fur quidam postrema quinque folia abstulit [et Lauermione] cultru excisus”](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:hoi7rsxw4y2k74pdmuqwxfhp/bafkreidlc7prcx7y7lze2f3ch2en5mwrvx6hlrbsydrfxi3dnex2v3bvgu@jpeg)
![First folio in the book starting with a text in Gothic hand ‘Cum animadverterm qua[m] plurimos and numerous marginal and interlinear glosses and commentaries, an initial in red.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:hoi7rsxw4y2k74pdmuqwxfhp/bafkreibmpnshjxcuabuvqbp7ig2eiwgcbvrhblf3npvsut2mtzz6lwfwhi@jpeg)
August 21, 2025 at 11:09 AM
Not all readers leave notes… Some leave with the folios.
In the 16th century, five folios, including the Liber Pamphili poetae, were cut from this 14th-C manuscript. A 16th-C note records the theft: 'Huius libri fur quidam postrema quinque folia abstulit [et Lauermione] cultru excisus.
/1
In the 16th century, five folios, including the Liber Pamphili poetae, were cut from this 14th-C manuscript. A 16th-C note records the theft: 'Huius libri fur quidam postrema quinque folia abstulit [et Lauermione] cultru excisus.
/1
Printed in Paris, paid for in Antwerp.
In 1497, Parisian printer Johann Higman produced a richly illustrated book of hours in Dutch for Antwerp bookseller Willem Houtmaert.
A perfect example of cross-border collaboration in the early print trade.
#earlymodern #bookhistory #rarebooks 💙📚📜
In 1497, Parisian printer Johann Higman produced a richly illustrated book of hours in Dutch for Antwerp bookseller Willem Houtmaert.
A perfect example of cross-border collaboration in the early print trade.
#earlymodern #bookhistory #rarebooks 💙📚📜
![Title page of the book with a woodcut decorative border surrounding a large illustration comprising of three different scenes, including the visit of angel Gabriel to Mary, the seduction of Eve by the snake, and a third scene. In the middle you can read the printed text 'Ave Maria gra[tia] plena dominus tecu[m]. Printed in black and red](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:hoi7rsxw4y2k74pdmuqwxfhp/bafkreigcefllt77s224il6n3ndmcwf4f7fijz7wxditdvd32zyfz6pfvnu@jpeg)
August 12, 2025 at 12:43 PM
Printed in Paris, paid for in Antwerp.
In 1497, Parisian printer Johann Higman produced a richly illustrated book of hours in Dutch for Antwerp bookseller Willem Houtmaert.
A perfect example of cross-border collaboration in the early print trade.
#earlymodern #bookhistory #rarebooks 💙📚📜
In 1497, Parisian printer Johann Higman produced a richly illustrated book of hours in Dutch for Antwerp bookseller Willem Houtmaert.
A perfect example of cross-border collaboration in the early print trade.
#earlymodern #bookhistory #rarebooks 💙📚📜
Bonus detail: this copy of Museum Plantin-Moretus is bound in a stunning #earlymodern binding with a blind tooled decoration: a presentation copy from Christophe Plantin to Abraham Ortelius, as noted in a handwritten title page inscription!
![Detail of the inscription that reads: 'Integeri[ssi]mo Abrahamo Ortelio Cosmographo Regio, Christophorus Plantinus gratitudinus ergo D. D.'](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:hoi7rsxw4y2k74pdmuqwxfhp/bafkreihmsaanhxqjgwcjc22afq32sbmdzvkjffnj4y3rhwemglqad5ga3m@jpeg)
July 31, 2025 at 10:11 AM
Bonus detail: this copy of Museum Plantin-Moretus is bound in a stunning #earlymodern binding with a blind tooled decoration: a presentation copy from Christophe Plantin to Abraham Ortelius, as noted in a handwritten title page inscription!
Ingenious use of woodcuts that overlap typeset text in this 1588 edition, visually reproducing old inscriptions found on funerary stones, altars & Capitoline Tables, carefully rendering letters but also the erosion, fractures & surface damage of their material supports.
#rarebooks #bookhistory
#rarebooks #bookhistory
July 31, 2025 at 10:03 AM
Ingenious use of woodcuts that overlap typeset text in this 1588 edition, visually reproducing old inscriptions found on funerary stones, altars & Capitoline Tables, carefully rendering letters but also the erosion, fractures & surface damage of their material supports.
#rarebooks #bookhistory
#rarebooks #bookhistory
Very interesting, we have a few examples in our collection (for instance: anet.be/record/opacm..., image below), but I’m sure we have many more incatalogued!
July 25, 2025 at 5:49 PM
Very interesting, we have a few examples in our collection (for instance: anet.be/record/opacm..., image below), but I’m sure we have many more incatalogued!
There’s no use crying over spilled printer’s ink!
Remarkable drop (?) of red ink in a liturgic edition of the Officina Plantiniana, a printing error that does not quite align with the quality we usually expect from the Antwerp printing office!
#rarebooks #bookhistory #earlymodern 💙📚📜
Remarkable drop (?) of red ink in a liturgic edition of the Officina Plantiniana, a printing error that does not quite align with the quality we usually expect from the Antwerp printing office!
#rarebooks #bookhistory #earlymodern 💙📚📜
July 24, 2025 at 12:38 PM
There’s no use crying over spilled printer’s ink!
Remarkable drop (?) of red ink in a liturgic edition of the Officina Plantiniana, a printing error that does not quite align with the quality we usually expect from the Antwerp printing office!
#rarebooks #bookhistory #earlymodern 💙📚📜
Remarkable drop (?) of red ink in a liturgic edition of the Officina Plantiniana, a printing error that does not quite align with the quality we usually expect from the Antwerp printing office!
#rarebooks #bookhistory #earlymodern 💙📚📜
Two exceptional manuscripts from the collection of Museum Plantin-Moretus are officially recognized as Flemish Masterpieces! These rare and irreplaceable works now receive special protection from the Flemish government. 🎉 /1
#earlymodern #rarebooks #medievalmanuscript #bookhistory 💙📚📜
#earlymodern #rarebooks #medievalmanuscript #bookhistory 💙📚📜
July 16, 2025 at 3:56 PM
Two exceptional manuscripts from the collection of Museum Plantin-Moretus are officially recognized as Flemish Masterpieces! These rare and irreplaceable works now receive special protection from the Flemish government. 🎉 /1
#earlymodern #rarebooks #medievalmanuscript #bookhistory 💙📚📜
#earlymodern #rarebooks #medievalmanuscript #bookhistory 💙📚📜
Well goodmorning Antwerp!
Ready for day 2 of our #TudorAntwerp conference with sessions on English bibles circulating in 16th-century Antwerp
#earlymodern #bookhistory #rarebooks 💙📚📜
Ready for day 2 of our #TudorAntwerp conference with sessions on English bibles circulating in 16th-century Antwerp
#earlymodern #bookhistory #rarebooks 💙📚📜
July 9, 2025 at 7:47 AM
Well goodmorning Antwerp!
Ready for day 2 of our #TudorAntwerp conference with sessions on English bibles circulating in 16th-century Antwerp
#earlymodern #bookhistory #rarebooks 💙📚📜
Ready for day 2 of our #TudorAntwerp conference with sessions on English bibles circulating in 16th-century Antwerp
#earlymodern #bookhistory #rarebooks 💙📚📜