The University Library has recently subscribed to a new resource, Early European Books.
This resource provides access to the full text of almost 25,000 early European books from 1450–1700. It offers full-colour, high-resolution facsimile images scanned directly from the original printed sources. Each item in the collection is captured in its entirety, complete with its binding, edges, endpapers, blank pages, and any loose inserts. By allowing such detailed study of printed works, scholars can rely on a wealth of information about the physical characteristics and provenance histories of original artefacts at the click of a button. All works printed in Europe before 1701, regardless of language, fall within the scope of the project, together with all pre-1701 works in European languages printed further afield.
Content includes collections from libraries across Europe, including the Royal Library, Copenhagen, the National Central Library of Florence, Italy, the Wellcome Library, London, and the National Library of France.
This resource will be of interest to any scholars of medieval or renaissance literature and culture.
– YiWen Hon, Liaison Librarian