Sharing expertise

CERL’s members include most of the major specialist rare books research libraries of Europe. Their accumulated expertise is available to be shared with colleagues. Some of this is available publicly; some is shared in the members’ forum which can only be accessed by subscribing members of the Consortium.

Many of these libraries have made information about their expertise available to other CERL members by submitting the names of specialists and their primary specialisms. These data are not made publicly available here but Members can obtain information from the Member Area.

General specialist experience in areas of early printing (to 1830)


Aberystwyth NLW
1. Welsh language printing. Also Irish, Scots Gaelic, Manx and Breton.
2. British printing generally.
3. Western European printing, chiefly – but by no means exclusively – the humanities.
Bologna Soprintendenza
1. 16th century cataloguing.
2. Conservation and protection.
3. Legislation.
Budapest LEU
1. Linking to bibliographical file: title page, binding, possessor.
Budapest NL
1. 16th century printed books (antique).
Copenhagen KB
1. Danish prints, including early Norwegica, Islandica, Groenlandica, Sleswico-Holsatica and prints from Danish colonies.
Debrecen UL
1. Cataloguing.
2. Research in provenance.
Edinburgh NLS
1. Early Scottish printing.
Firenze BNC
1. BiblioEditions of 16th century.
The Hague KB
1. Creating a national bibliography.
2. Creating an electronic National History of the Book (Bibliopolis).
3. Incunabula.
4. Bookbindings.
5. Paper.
6. Preservation/conservation.
Lisbon BN
1. History of the Book and Libraries.
Lyon BM
1. Incunables.
2. 16th century French editions.
3. 19th century French editions.
4. Provenance search.
Madrid BNE
1. Incunabula.
2. 16th century books.
Moscow RSL
1. Books in the Cyrillic alphabet.
2. European editions of 15-17 century.
3. Russian editions of 18-19 century.
Munich BSB
1. 16th century German imprints.
2. Incunabula cataloguing.
3. Einblattdrucke (test-image).
Oxford UL
1. Most area of early printing are covered.
Padua CAB
1. Botanical themes.
2. Medicine.
Paris BnF
1. French early printed books XVth century to 1830.
Rome BNC
1. Incunables.
2. Printed books of 16th and 17th century.
Rome ICCU
1. 16th century Italian editions.
St Petersburg NLR
1. [www.rba.ru - (Activitiy) - Adaptation of UNIMARC as Russian Exchange format.
Stockholm KB
1. Incunabula - Wolfgang Undorf.
2. 17th century - Janis Kreslins.
3. 18th century - Ylva Tjeder and Gunilla Jonsson.
4. 19th century - Jan Ottosson.
5. Book bindings - Karin Wijkström.
Venice BNM
1. Incunables.
2. Printed books, 16th century.
3. Printed books from the 17th up to the middle of the 19th century.
4. Cartographic and graphic documents.
Vilnius NL
1. Cataloguing of Hebrew books.
Zagreb NUL
1. Medieval codices.
2. Incunabula.
3. Croatia (printed books from the beginning till 1835).


Specialist cataloguing expertise in areas of early printing (to 1830)


Bologna Soprintendenza
1. 16th century.
2. Incunables.
Budapest LEU
1. On-line antiqua catalogue (1501-1600).
2. Possessor register of the antiqua (inaccessible on-line).
3. On-line baroque catalogue (1601-1700).
4. Title-page multimedia catalogue (inaccessible on-line).
5. Binding photocopy library (inaccessible on-line).
Budapest NL
1. 16th century printed books (antiqua).
Copenhagen KB
1. Neo-Latin literature printed in or concerning the Nordic countries.
Debrecen UL
1. We have a relatively newly founded group of cataloguers of early printing; when they have become a well-established team, we are happy to provide their details.
Edinburgh NLS
1. We have experience of cataloguing printed material 1455-1830, from many European countries and in various languages including Classical Greek and Latin, in accordance with DCRB.
Firenze BNC
1. Especially expertise on the Bible, Latin editions of Vulgata.
Göttingen NStuB
1. Cataloguing incunabula.
2. Cataloguing early imprints of 16th to 18th centuries.
The Hague KB
1. Incunabula.
2. Dutch imprints.
3. Bookbindings.
4. Watermarks.
5. Paper.
London UC
1. Rare periodicals.
Lyon BM
1. Copy-specific description.
2. Sammelband.
Madrid BNE
1. Incunabula.
2. 16th century early books.
Moscow RSL
1. Books in the Cyrillic alphabet.
2. European editions of 15-18 century.
3. Russian editions 18-19 century.
Munich BSB
1. See above 5.1 (16th century German imprints).
2. 17th century German imprints.
3. Provenance.
4. Bookbinding.
Oxford UL
1. Incunables.
2. Continental printing 1455-1800 and ESTC period.
3. Early printed music.
4. Oriental and Middle Eastern.
5. Maps, etc.
Padua CAB
1. Botanica.
2. Medicine.
3. Antiquities.
4. Italian literature.
5. Architecture.
Rome BNC
1. Incunables.
2. 16th-17th century.
Rome ICCU
1. 16th century Italian printing.
St Petersburg NLR
1. See point No.4 ‘Services for Members’: Galina Rider and Aleksei Rumiantsev.
Stockholm KB
1. 16th-19th centuries generally.
2. Maps.
Venice BNM
1. Incunables.
2. Printed books, 16th century.
3. Printed books from the 17th up to the middle of the 19th century.
4. Cartographic and graphic documents.
Yale UL
1. Serial/periodical cataloguing.
2. Use of DCRB (Descriptive Cataloguing of Rare Books).