Origins of Western culture: printed sources from continental Europe to 1700.
Building on the success of Early English Books Online (EEBO), ProQuest has embarked on a European-wide project which will trace the history of printing in Europe from its origins to 1700. The Early European Books resource is set to encompass all European printed material, and material printed in European languages, from the early modern period. The contents are drawn from major repositories including the Danish Royal Library, the National Central Library in Florence, the National Library of France, the National Library of the Netherlands, and the Wellcome Library in London. Over time, other significant national libraries will be adding their collections to Early European Books to enable researchers to conduct a seamless survey of the origins and development of Western culture.
Early European Books contains significant works by Aristotle, Copernicus, Descartes, Erasmus, Kepler, Luther and Spinoza, alongside ephemeral works such as pamphlets and almanacs.
The works encompass all the major fields of human endeavour, including science, medicine, philosophy, theology, literature, history, political science, travel and exploration. Together they provide a rich source of content for study and research across the cultural landscape of early modern Europe.
Det Kongelige Bibliotek / The Royal Library (Copenhagen)
Edit: Venice, Aldine Press 1515. Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze (BNCF)
Founded by Aldo Manuzio (AKA Aldus Manutius) in Venice in 1495, the Aldine Press was one of the most historically significant institutions in the early history of printed books. This is the first portable edition of Dante’s Divine Comedy. The Aldine text formed the standard edition of Dante until the late 19th century, and the second Aldine edition (1515) was the first to include the famous woodcut diagram illustrating the circles of Hell.
Joannes de Laet’s History of the New World (Leiden, 1625) Map of West Indies
Ovidius de arte amandi Text embedded into the commentary by Bartholomeus Merula. Edition Milan, 1521
Formerly owned by William Morris. Welcome Library, London
Medical illustration from a French translation of the 16th-century Italian polymath Girolamo Cardano's work on physiognomy, published in Paris in 1658 as La Métoposcope de H. Cardan. BNF Collection 5
Frontispiece illustration from La Toyson d'or, ou la Fleur des thrésors, en laquelle est succinctement et méthodiquement traicté de la pierre des philosophes (1613) by Salomon Trismosin.
Illustration from a 1617 Dutch translation of Sir Walter Raleigh's The Discovery of the Large, Rich and Beautiful Empire of Guiana, with a relation of the Great and Golden City of Manoa (which the Spaniards call El Dorado), originally published in 1595. Royal Library,The Hague.
Portrait and motto of Madeleine de Scudéry from her major romance Clelie Histoire Romaine Paris, 1656. BNF
Incipit with Illuminated letter of 1480 Gouda edition of the Dialogus creaturarum moralisatus (fables) by Nicholaus Pergaminus
Illustration depicting Caribbean cannibals cooking and eating their enemies. From Voyages en Afrique, Asie, Indes orientales et occidentales by the French explorer Jean Mocquet (1575-1616?) published in Rouen in 1645.
Illustration from Les Religions du monde (Amsterdam, 1666), a French translation of Scottish author Alexander Ross's Pansebeia (1655). The illustration heads a chapter describing the Anabaptists and other Protestant sects.
Frontispiece illustration depicting Joan of Arc. From L'histoire et discours au vray du siege qui fut mis devant la ville d'Orleans (Orleans, 1606).
a 1580 edition of Ariosto’s (1474-1533) Orlando Furioso - BNCF
Full Armor Knight from French Heraldry book 17th Century - BNF
Comet observed by Johannes Hevelius. Tail Changing shape across days hours
Ouvres de Moliere tome I, Coat of Arms - BNF
Diaries by Cardinal Richelieu - 1648 - BNF
Engraving with Chinese knights over a map of the Chinese Empire
