FZ van der Merwe Collection

Housed at the University of South Africa in Pretoria, the FZ van der Merwe Collection is a collection of South African sheet music. The collection was done by Dr. FZ van der Merwe, a medical doctor with an exceptional interest in the identification, collection and preservation of the country’s sheet music. His collection, which he bequeathed to the University of Pretoria, now forms the basis of the F Z van der Merwe Sheet Music Collection. However, he also left a sum of money of which the interest is used on an ongoing basis for the further expansion of the collection.

Many people have questioned why this collection has not been integrated with the rest of the University of Pretoria's music collection. In deference to the wishes of Dr. F Z van der Merwe, the collection is maintained separately and made available, under supervision, to researchers only. This collection may rightly be described as the largest and most comprehensive collection of South African sheet music in the world.