LEEUWENHOEK’S DWELLING 339 
know, incorrect: nevertheless, the “ anniversary”? was duly 
celebrated on the date erroneously determined—to the evident 
satisfaction of all participants. By that time everyone had 
forgotten where Leeuwenhoek had lived: but the then 
archivist of Delft (Mr J. Soutendam) endeavoured to find 
out, and he finally pitched on an old house standing at 
the corner of Oude Delft and the Boterbrugstraat (not 
‘“ Botersteeg”’, as Haaxman called it). An “ astrolabiwm” or 
“planetarium” still present by the doorstep (figured by 
Soutendam, 1875) was taken to confirm his identification of 
the site—this bit of “scientific apparatus” presumably indi- 
cating that the house in question had once been occupied by 
a man of science. Even at that date (1875), however, the 
house itself was, by all accounts, much restored and altered. 
As Leeuwenhoek’s habitation had been thus identified, the 
“anniversary ’’ celebrations included a visit of the delegates 
en masse to this hallowed spot. The tenant of the house at 
that time (Mr J. B. A. Muré) received them graciously: he 
also allowed a stone memorial slab to be affixed to the front 
of his residence, and bound himself legally to be responsible 
for its future preservation. (The agreement is printed in 
Harting, 1876; p. 89.) 
So far so good. Some years later, however, the tenant of 
the house died, and it passed into the hands of a builder at 
The Hague who inconsiderately ordered it to be demolished. 
By that date (1892) everybody had, apparently, forgotten all 
about Leeuwenhoek again: but when the house came to be 
pulled down, the stone block bearing his name, and the 
‘‘ planetarium ” by the steps, were noticed. They were there- 
fore preserved, consecrated with the seal of the municipality, 
and deposited (on 3 December 1892) in the Municipal Museum 
at Delft—where they now repose. (The memorial tablet is 
an oblong block of white marble bearing the words Antony 
vAN LEEUWENHOEK/MDCLXXV—MDCCCLXXV in gilt 
capitals. The “planetarium” is a decorative iron railing 
bearing no obvious resemblance to any scientific instrument.) 
The site occupied by the house was not built on, but was 
converted into a playground for the girls’ school adjoining 
(the Meisjeshuis, erected in 1760); and again everything was 
forgotten. 
Some 17 years later, a local society called “ Delfia”— 
concerned with the improvement of the town, and the preser- 
