An Arendtian Library - German, English, and Dutch

Our library feature photo this week comes courtesy of Joop Berding, a researcher at Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences. Shown in the image below is part of Berding's bookcase that is dedicated to Arendt's works.

Berding describes his personal Arendt library as follows:

Over the past few years, I have read most of Arendt’s works, mostly in English but also a number of them in German (such as the letters to Heinrich Blücher) and in Dutch. Arendt's works have been available in Dutch since the seventies. One can see a number of important works on Arendt, including the still very impressive biography by Bruehl-Young, studies by Canovan and Neiman, and others. Also, since I have a special interest in Arendt’s work on the Eichmann Trial, I have collected a number of secondary sources on the subject. Lastly, Arendt’s own interest in classical Greek philosophy has motivated me to dive into the subject as well.

The centerpiece of my collection, Arendt’s Vita Activa (The Human Condition), lays near the center of the image. The book for me is a central work in her oeuvre and is in fact one of the most beautiful and moving texts ever written.

Via the use of these volumes, I have written a number of articles about Arendt, most of them in Dutch and mainly about the impact of her political views on education. At the moment, I am preparing an edited volume about the impact of Arendt’s theories on professionalism in education, care, and welfare.

For more information about my interest in Arendt, again most of it in Dutch, please check out my website www.joopberding.nl.

Do you have images of your own personal Arendt library that you would like others to see? Send them to David Bisson, the Media Coordinator for the Hannah Arendt Center, at [email protected], and your photos might get featured on our blog!