Nicolaas Anslijn

[1] Anslijn was born in Leiden, the eldest son of bookbinder Nicolaas and Elisabeth Bols.

With an interest in drawing and painting Anslijn considered becoming an artist but his father had him work as an apprentice at the bookbinding shop.

The family was pushed into financial troubles and Anslijn quit his art training and began to work with a varnishing business that involved travelling to fairs around the country.

His school was visited by François-Joseph-Michel Noël and Georges Cuvier in 1810 who were examining the state of education and they praised the approach used.

In 1834 his wife died and he moved from Haarlem to Alkmar where he lived with his son Pieter Daniel who was a school teacher.