Isaac Elzevir (11 March 1596, in

Leiden Leiden ( ; ; in English language, English and Archaism, archaic Dutch language, Dutch also Leyden) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Nethe ...

– 8 October 1651, in

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

), in Dutch Isaac Elsevier, was a Dutch publisher and printer who began printing with one of the earliest printing press in the city of

Leyden Leiden ( ; ; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 127,046 (31 January 2023), but the city forms one densely connecte ...

in the year 1617. Although the

House of Elzevir Elzevir is the name of a family of Dutch booksellers, publishers, and printers of the 17th and early 18th centuries. The duodecimo series of "Elzevirs" became very famous and very desirable among bibliophiles, who sought to obtain the tallest ...

ceased publishing in 1712, the modern Dutch

Elsevier Elsevier ( ) is a Dutch academic publishing company specializing in scientific, technical, and medical content. Its products include journals such as ''The Lancet'', ''Cell (journal), Cell'', the ScienceDirect collection of electronic journals, ...

company was founded in 1880 and took its name from the historic Dutch publishing house.

Biography

Isaac was the 2nd of Matthijs Elzevir's three sons and grandson of

Lodewijk Elzevir Lodewijk Elzevir (c. 1540 – 4 February 1617), originally ''Lodewijk or Louis Elsevier or Elzevier'', was a printer, born in the city of Leuven (today in Belgium, then part of the Habsburg Netherlands or Spanish Netherlands). He was the founder of ...

, founder of the House of Elzevir. His publishing career spanned nine years and dominated the Leiden University printing business. Isaac began his career buying a print shop in Leyden in 1616 and by 1620 was appointed Printer to Leiden University. In 1625 Isaac brought the printing business of

Thomas van Erpe Thomas van Erpe, also known as Thomas Erpenius (September 11, 1584November 13, 1624), Dutch Orientalist, was born at Gorinchem, in Holland. He was the first European to publish an accurate book of Arabic grammar. After completing his early educ ...

with oriental fonts from his widow for the very large sum of 8000 guilders. With the oriental typography of the Erpenius equipment—including Syrian, Arab, Aramaic and Hebrew fonts—they acquired a monopolistic position in the field of oriental typography. A year later, in 1626, Isaac sold his publishing business to his uncle

Bonaventure Elzevir Elzevir is the name of a family of Netherlands, Dutch booksellers, publishers, and printers of the 17th and early 18th centuries. The duodecimo series of "Elzevirs" became very famous and very desirable among bibliophiles, who sought to obtain t ...

and nephew Abraham Elzevir. Isaac left Leyden after selling the printing business and purchased a tavern in Rotterdam. In 1629, he abandoned innkeeping to become provost general for the Admiralty of South Holland, Admiralty of de Maze, and Waal. Later, he became a brewer with his two youngest sons. Isaac died in Cologne in 1651 while traveling on business.

Elzevir Mark

The Elzevir mark has been in use since Isaac introduced it in Leyden in 1620. It depicts a vine or a snake entwined Elm tree. A man stands beside the tree which supports a banner bearing the Latin motto ''Non Solus'' (not alone). Images of the Elsevir mark appear at: *

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

(image at right) *

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...

main library

printer's mark A printer's mark, Heraldic badge, device, emblem or insignia is a symbol that was used as a trademark by early Printer (publishing), printers starting in the 15th century. The first printer's mark is found in the 1457 Mainz Psalter by Johann Fust ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Elzevir, Isaac 1596 births 1651 deaths Dutch printers Dutch publishers (people) People from Leiden 17th-century printers 17th-century Dutch businesspeople