The Maritime Law library of Professor Leo Delwaide

The Leo Delwaide collection is one of the most significant libraries of International Maritime Law worldwide. As one of the oldest acquisitions of the Historical Library, it was incorporated into it in 2011. The main body of the collection includes works related to Maritime Law and other branches of Law, spanning from the early 16th century to the present day. The collection also features significant sections on the history of shipping and the history of seafaring nations. About one third of the collection consists of rare editions published from the early 16th century to the mid-19th century. The books are written in Latin, English, French, German, Dutch, Flemish, and Italian. The library contains a large collection of reputable Maritime Law journals, many of which continue to be updated.

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Baron Leo Delwaide (1939) is a legal scholar and professor of Maritime Law, son of his namesake Leo Delwaide (1897-1978), who was a professor of Maritime Law at the University of Antwerp, Mayor, and President of the Port Authority of Antwerp. Baron Delwaide completed his dissertation on the subject of vessel seizure in 1985 and was awarded a Doctorate in Law from the University of Leuven. He soon began teaching Maritime Law at the Universities of Antwerp (in Dutch) and Brussels (in French). He started collecting rare books in his field, and along with his friend, fellow bibliophile Armand Vandeplas, and with the assistance of rare book appraiser Leon Sternberg, they managed to purchase many books from significant antiquarian bookstores in Europe and America, including collections from Vittorio-Emanuele Orlando and Professor Dante Gaeta.