History of the Performing Arts

Dance, theater and music belong to the performing arts. This collecting area contains lavish collections that provide a colorful picture of the history of the performing arts. Music, drama, dance and circus are particularly well represented. A smaller section is devoted to cabaret, opera, operetta, musical, mime and puppetry.

Thanks to the interest in Dutch literature, librarians early on included plays in the City Library of Amsterdam, the forerunner of the University Library. In the nineteenth century the collection was supplemented by important donations and purchases of old plays and programs.