Elzevir Press

Dutch publishing house founded in Leiden in 1593 by the printer and bookseller Louis Elzevir (1546–1617). Establishing a high reputation for classic texts that were both well edited and inexpensive, the Elzevir press continued as a family business, opening branches in The Hague, Amsterdam, and Utrecht. The first contemporary author published by the Elzevirs was Grotius. It remained a family business until 1712.

The founder of the dynasty, Louis Elzevir, born in Louvain, worked for Plantin in Antwerp, and settled in Leiden in 1580 as a binder and bookseller. His publishing started with an edition of Eutropius, and classical authors continued to be the main stock of the firm.

Louis's son Bonaventura (1583–1652) and grandsons Abraham (1592–1652) and Izaak (1596–1651) – the offspring of Louis's oldest son, Matthias – began the series of pocket classics in 1629, providing accurate texts for a large market. These little thirty-twomos, with their narrow margins and solid slabs of type, often with engraved title pages, became the family's most famous product. Izaak, who had established a press of his own in 1616, became printer to the university of Leyden in 1620, and his successors retained the office.

The Amsterdam branch was established by Louis III (1604–70) in 1639, and concentrated on modern books in Dutch, German, English, and French until the death of Daniel Elzevir (1626–80), Bonaventura's son, when it was wound up. The Leyden branch lasted a little longer, under the control of Abraham's grandson, Abraham II (1653–1712).

The Elzevirs, from Louis I on, sold new or second-hand books throughout Europe, an activity just as important as their printing and publishing.