The Wittockiana, Museum of Book Arts and Bookbinding in Brussels (French: Wittockiana, Musée des arts du livre et de la reliure à Bruxelles; Dutch: Wittockiana, Museum van de Boekkunst en het Boekbinden te Brussel), formerly known as Bibliotheca Wittockiana, is a public museum and library in Woluwe-Saint-Pierre, a municipality of Brussels, Belgium, devoted to the arts of the book and of bookbinding.

Wittockiana, Museum of Book Arts and Bookbinding in Brussels
  • Wittockiana, Musée des arts du livre et de la reliure à Bruxelles (French)
  • Wittockiana, Museum van de Boekkunst en het Boekbinden te Brussel (Dutch)
Map
Interactive fullscreen map
Former name
Bibliotheca Wittockiana
Established4 December 1981 (1981-12-04)
LocationRue du Bemel / Bemelstraat 23,
1150 Woluwe-Saint-Pierre, Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium
Coordinates50°49′56″N 4°25′13″E / 50.8321798°N 4.4203395°E / 50.8321798; 4.4203395
TypePublic museum
FounderMichel Wittock
WebsiteOfficial website

The museum is based on the personal collection of Michel Wittock, a former entrepreneur and bibliophile, who donated his collection to the King Baudouin Foundation in 2010.[1] The library was opened to the public in 1983. The Wittockiana is supported by the French Community of Belgium.[2]

Collection

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The museum reflects Wittock's interests and focuses on books and bookbindings dating back to the Renaissance until present-day. Among others, it holds an almost complete collection of the Almanach de Gotha, a collection of approximately 600 precious rattles (the former collection of Idès Cammaert), the archives of Valere Gille (a writer and influent personality in the literary world of the first half of the 20th century, whose office furniture was designed by Paul Hankar) and a part of the personal archive of Lucien Bonaparte. The museum also hosts temporary exhibitions.[3]

 
French Renaissance bookbinding with decorative entrelacs (interlacing), made around 1545 by Jean Picard for Jean Grolier. Collection King Baudouin Foundation

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Duplat, Guy (12 August 2011). "Michel Wittock : passion et don". La Libre Belgique. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
  2. ^ "Michel Wittock, portrait d'un collectionneur". RTBF. 29 January 2015. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
  3. ^ Coster, Annie de. 2008. “The Bibliotheca Wittockiana in Brussels: Collecting and Exhibiting Bindings.” Art Libraries Journal 33 (3): 30–33.
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