The Elzevier Collection

Elzevier in London Senate House Library Elzevier Holdings Links

The Elzevier Collection comprises over 700 books printed by members of the Elzevier family, and c 450 books produced by other 17th century Dutch presses, in all, a collection unique in the UK. A check of the Netherlands Short Title Catalogue revealed that almost 15% of the ULL Elzevier Collection had not been previously reported.

To many the name of Elsevier represents a prolific modern scientific publishing house. The name perpetuates that of a much older printing dynasty, the house of Elzevier, or Elzevir, which began operating in Leiden in 1580 and continued throughout the Netherlands into the early 18th century.
While the Elzeviers specialised in accurate editions of classical literature, they were also known for the breadth of their publications. Most of their books were small in size and therefore cheap, the Penguin paperbacks of their time. They were distributed throughout Europe. Soon publications of the house of Elzevier became collectible items.

This collection of Elzevier publications was given to Senate House Library by the Corporation of London's Guildhall Library in 1950, together with related works and the other early Dutch imprints. It provides a British equivalent of the 700-item strong special Elzevier collection at the University of Albany. The Senate House Library collection complements that at the nearby British Library to provide nearly a complete set of Elzeviers in London. An overview on Elzevier Collections in London is contributed by Dr J. Harskamp (British Library).

While in many older libraries one might expect to find Elzeviers scattered among the general holdings, the Senate House Library collection is remarkable for the collocation of Elzeviers. It includes some publications, notably French plays, as yet unrecorded online elsewhere. Its pride is the Poemata & effigies trium fratrum Belgarum Nicolai Grudii, given by the editor, Bonaventura Vulcanius, to the pioneering natural rights theorist Hugo Grotius, who was also the first modern author to be published by the Elzeviers.

shl.specialcollections@london.ac.uk 020 7862 8470