P.J. Mulder & zoon – Boek en Steendrukkerij (1872 – 1951) – Book Publishing & Lithography – Leiden, NL – Gaia Son, Lowlands Correspondence

Steen en boek drukkerij – Drukkerij Mulder – Stone & Book publishing – Miller Publishing © Gaia Son

The iconic windmill in the Dutch landscape is equally ubiquitous in literature and graphic representations. Here in this painted advert, it is used as a reference as to what the windmill can do, other than pumping water out to the sea, but milling grain. Mulder in Dutch is Miller and the windmill is a miller’s most prized tool- but the stone is the printer’s most prized tool – a smooth limestone surface used in lithographic printing, which was developed in the Kingdom of Bavaria in 1796 by German author and actor Alois Senefelder.

Jaarboekje voor geschiedenis en oudheidkunde van Leiden en Rijnland. Tevens orgaan van de vereeniging Oud Leiden 1940 – Yearbook for the history and archeology of Leiden and Rhineland. Also the document of the Union of Old Leiden 1940 – P.J. Mulder & Zoon

Taken from the above historical publication printed by P.J. Mulder & Son, This is the Coat of Arms & Motto of Leiden: Haec Libertatis Ergo – Omwille van de vrijheid – For the sake of freedom – which refers to the time of the Dutch resistance against the Spaniards in the sixteenth century, given the time of this printing in 1940 during the German Occupation, its meaning resounded.