Handwritten lecture notes from Limburg-born student Jan Willem Peeters (1862-1934). He studied physics and chemistry at the University of Amsterdam, and attended lectures from Dutch physicist Johannes Diderik van der Waals (1837-1923), known for his research into gases and liquids. Van der Waals received the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1910. The lecture notes are unique. The only other known lecture notes by Van der Waals were written a few years later by W.P. Jorissen (1869-1959), but these concern the theoretical physics lectures and not experimental physics. Jorissen received his PhD from the University of Amsterdam in 1896 and became a lecturer in inorganic and physical chemistry at the University of Leiden from 1908 to 1940. Maastricht University’s Special Collections hold a second manuscript with lecture notes by Jan Willem Peeters from the same period: Scheikunde pract. Werk. Peeters would later become canon of the Cathedral Chapter and director of the Episcopal College in Roermond.

Professor Joseph Schüngel (1844-1922) was a teacher of mathematics and physics at the Rijks HBS in 's-Hertogenbosch and director of that school from 1906-1913. He also taught at the Stedelijk Gymnasium in that town. He is known for his textbooks on physics, which were also used at the Gemeentelijke HBS in Maastricht. Several editions from his textbooks are part of Maastricht University’s Special Collections, such as Leidraad bij het onderwijs in de natuurkunde. Schüngel’s books are scarce in the Netherlands. Maastricht scientist and winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry Peter Debye (1884-1966) gained his first knowledge of physics from Schüngel’s books.