Research Guides: Book History: Online tools for the study and understanding of early printed books: Provenance

UNION CATALOGUES AND DATABASES

MEI - Material Evidence in Incunabula
MEI records the material evidence of 15th-century printed books: ownership, decoration, binding, manuscript annotations, stamps, prices, etc. MEI is linked to the Incunabula Short Title Catalogue (ISTC), and it allows the user at last to combine searches of bibliographical records (extracted from ISTC) with copy specific records. Free access
Owners of Incunabula
MEI satellite site offering data on owners. Free access
Paul Needham - Index Possessorum Incunabulorum
Ca. 32,000 entries of personal names, institutional names, monograms, and arms pertaining to the ownership of incunabula. Free access
Bibale
The database contains descriptions of medieval manuscripts with provenance from a range of libraries across the globe, and a collection of printed books with provenance from various French libraries. Free access
Index of Siebmacher's Armorials
Family names and titles (17th-20th centuries) from the "General Index of Siebmacher’s Armorials 1605–1961". Free access
CERL Online Provenance Resources
Repository of existing provenance databases
University of Glasgow Library, Special Collections, Provenance
Virtual exhibition

EMoBookTrade - Database of Venetian Privileges
Database of privileges (guarantees of short-term printing monopoly for individual works) granted by the Venetian authorities between from 1469 to 1545 (work in progress; ultimately, the database will cover the time frame from 1469 to 1603). Free access
British Book Trade Index
Brief biographical and trade details of all those who worked in the English and Welsh book trades up to 1851. Free access
Scottish Book Trade Index
Names, trades and addresses of people involved in printing in Scotland up to 1850, covering printers, publishers, booksellers, bookbinders, printmakers, stationers, papermakers. Free access
Exeter Working Papers in Book History
International biographical and bibliographical information on the book trades. Free access
Société typographique de Neuchâtel
The project maps the French book trade across late-Enlightenment Europe, between 1769 and 1794. It charts best-selling texts and authors; reading tastes across Europe; changing patterns of demand over time; and networks of exchange in the print-trade. Free access

Archive of Papers and Watermarks in Greek Manuscripts
Created by Robert W. Allison. Free access
Piccard Online
Online version of the repertoire of watermarks authored by Gerhard Piccard in multiple volumes starting in 1961. Free access

Printers' Devices
Database of printers' devices managed by the University of Barcelona. Free access
Typenrepertorium der Wiegendrucke
Database of printers' devices managed by the National Library of Berlin. Free access