Online bibliography reveals extent of Dutch book publishing

THE HAGUE – The Royal Library (KB) has completed a huge and her longest running project ever with the official launch of the Internet site www.stcn.nl, the short-title catalogue Netherlands. The Dutch digital bibliography includes all known titles ever printed in the Netherlands and in the Dutch language elsewhere, between the years 1540 and 1801. This period is considered to be one during which Amsterdam was the publishing capital of the world and the book printing industry in the Netherlands prospered greatly. Dutch printers turned out more than 200,000 titles during that era, ranging from small booklets and almanacs to travelogues and academic works. Researchers used about 25 major libraries and archives, including those abroad, to compile the national bibliography but were also helped by volumes such as the 1650 Catalogus Universalis, which listed titles that had drawn the attention of its publisher. The bibliographies for the periods before 1540 and after 1801 already had been completed earlier.