Constantijn Huygens, Antonius Thysius, and the Leiden University Sammelband of the Works of Margaret Cavendish

Abstract This article considers a Sammelband of the early works of Margaret Cavendish deposited at Leiden University Library in 1658. It examines the context of this donation, taking into account the role played by Cavendish’s acquaintance, the Dutch diplomat and multilingual poet Constantijn Huygens, and the formal letter of acknowledgment supplied by the university’s Rector Magnificus, Antonius Thysius the Younger. The assumption of previous scholarship that Huygens himself prepared the volume’s unique Latin index or table of contents, which gave Continental readers unfamiliar with English some measure of access to Cavendish’s vernacular writings, is further developed, and Thomas Warren is identified as the likely printer. The Sammelband is understood as a testament both to Cavendish’s intellectual ambitions and to cultural connections between early modern England and the Netherlands.