The astronomer Jan Hendrik Oort (1900-1992) left behind an extensive
collection of notes and correspondence, both on his research and on
matters that concerned him in a variety of official functions. Upon
Oort's death, the collection was augmented by more personal papers,
letters, journals, and diaries.
The resulting collection forms a rich source of information on many
aspects of twentieth-century astronomy, in which Oort played such an
important role. The scientific and personal material covers the entire
span of time from Oort's early youth until his death.
To make these papers accessible to a wide circle of users, the
collection has now been catalogued and described; the result is
presented in this volume. A name index and a subject index have been
added to facilitate access. The inventory is accompanied by a short
biographical sketch, and a number of photographs, mostly relating to
Oort's career as a scientist.
The original papers themselves are archived in the Leiden University
Library.