Introduction to the Jubille Volume

Our 150th anniversary is commemorated in a rather modest way and it is not our intention to make it an important international event. Hoewever, we decided to dedicate part of Blumea to the jubilee, not only in order to bring our anniversary to the attention of our colleagues abroad, but also in order to bring the historiography of our institute more or less up to date. The last time the history of the Rijksherbarium was written, was on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of its residence in Leiden. The conservator W. A. Goddijn then published a rather lengthy paper in Dutch and a short summary in French, in the Mededeelingen van’s Rijks Herbarium, nr. 62a/b, 1931. Since that time there have been spectacular changes in the work and position of the institute and in fact the Rijksherbarium of 1979 is not at all like the Rijksherbarium in 1930. It seemed not superfluous, therefore, to publish a new historical survey.