Universal Short Title Catalogue Project: The Universal Short Title Catalogue Project is an Arts and Humanities Research Council funded project based at the University of St Andrews.

The St Andrews French Book Project is very fortunate to have a number of partners with whom we work very closely.

Partner Projects

Edit 16/ICCU

The Censimento nazionale delle edizioni italiane del XVI secolo (EDIT16) has gathered information on books published in Italy during the sixteenth century and in the Italian language abroad. A comprehensive survey of over 1,000 collections in Italy has generated information on some 66,000 separate editions. The project is managed by the Istituto Centrale per il Catalogo Unico delle biblioteche italiane e per le informazioni bibliografiche (ICCU).

Iberian Book Project (IBP) »

The Iberian Book Project is based at the Centre for the History of the Media at University College, Dublin. Run by the director of the Centre, Dr Alexander Wilkinson, who was previously Project Manager of the St Andrews French Book Project, the IBP aims to create the first global survey of books published in Spanish or Portuguese or books printed in other languages on the Iberian Peninsula before 1601.

Ricerca sull’Inchiesta della Congregazione dell’Indice (RICI) »

The Ricerca sull’Inchiesta della Congregazione dell’Indice (RICI) is an Italian project started in 2000 that involves scholars from many Italian Universities (L’Aquila, Chieti, Firenze, Macerata, Milano/Cattolica, Pisa/Scuola Normale, Roma “La Sapienza”, Roma Tre, and others). The research team, directed by Professor Roberto Rusconi (Università di Roma Tre), focuses on booklists of monastic libraries written between 1596 and 1603 and sent to the Roman Congregation of the Index. These booklists are now collected in 61 manuscripts helded by the Vatican Library (Cod. Vat. Lat. 11266-11326) plus three more in other archives. The aim of the project is to develop a database containing the transcription of all the inventories, linking every item to bibliographical references, and, when applicable, to the classmark in actual libraries. The on-line database will be a powerful resource for the study of print culture and the history of libraries. It will make it possible to investigate the books in circulation in the late sixteenth century and to show the existence of now disappeared editions.

Academic Partners

School of History, University of St Andrews »

The French Book Project is based in the School of History at the University of St Andrews, Scotland. The School of History is one of the largest and most successful schools in the Faculty of Arts.

Reformation Studies Institute, University of St Andrews »

Founded in 1993, the Reformation Studies Institute reflects the University’s continuing commitment to enhancing St Andrews’ established reputation in the field of Reformation and Early Modern historical studies. Consisting of a group of scholars working on the Reformation and related studies, the Institute provides a focus for the University’s advanced work in this area. With its established group of Faculty members, research students and students taking the taught postgraduate course, St Andrews now boasts one of the largest concentrations of scholars active in this field in any European university. The Institute has a distinctly international flavour, partly through its students, and partly through its partnership relationships with similar institutions in Germany, Switzerland and the United States. It sponsors graduate seminars, conferences and visits from distinguished outside academics. The Institute also provides the editorial board for the St Andrews Studies in Reformation History, a monograph series published by Ashgate.

Centre for French History and Culture, University of St Andrews »

The St Andrews Centre for French History and Culture was founded in 2005 to enhance and expand the University’s existing strengths in French history. The Centre provides an intellectual and social focus for staff and graduate students working in any field and on any period related to the history of France and its possessions, and offers a designated specialist pathway in French history for postgraduate students. It runs a biannual seminar for outside speakers, and hosts and sponsors national and international conferences. The Centre and its staff also enjoy links to other research centres in France, other European countries and North America.

There are currently five academic staff members in the School of History researching principally in the field of French history, with another three possessing closely related research interests. Staff in the School of Art History and in the Department of French (School of Modern Languages) are also closely associated with the Centre and sit on its board of management. Dr. David Parrott (New College, Oxford) and Professor James McMillan (Edinburgh University) also sit on the board as external advisors.

CESR (Centre d’Études Supérieures de la Renaissance), Université François-Rabelais, Tours »

The CESR was founded in 1956 by Gaston Berger. Under the leadership of Peter Mesnard it became attached to the ‘faculté de lettres’ at the Université de Poitiers. In 1969 the Université François Rabelais was founded in Tours, and in 1970 the CESR became a department within that University.

In 1983 the then director, Jean Lafond, saw the creation of a ‘Centre d’information et de documentation “Renaissance européenne”‘ by the Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS). This centre was established at the Université François Rabelais and covered part of the activities of CESR.

In 1992 the department of Education recognises the CESR as a institute associated with the CNRS and integrates it as such in the 1992-1995 Research plan. In 1996 an agreement was reached to launch a four-year programme for development and the application of interdisciplinary research devoted to the European heritage of the Renaissance (musicology, art history, history of the book).

Today, the CESR is a centre for training and research that welcomes students and researchers seeking to gain initial or further training in all aspects of the Renaissance. It has a dual status:

d’UFR (“Unité de formation et de recherche”) of the Université François-Rabelais, Tours.
d’UMR (“Unité mixte de recherche” #6576) of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS).

Centre for the History of the Media, University College, Dublin »

The Centre for the History of the Media (CHM) is an initiative of the School of History and Archives at UCD. It offers an interdisciplinary forum for researchers from across the University and beyond to explore the history of the media, giving equal attention to the pre-modern and modern periods. It seeks to promote two main areas: the study of the media within a broad contextual framework and meaningful interdisciplinary discourse. The Centre hosts an annual Distinguished Public Lecture. In addition, the Centre organises research seminars and international conferences, bringing together leading scholars active in this burgeoning field of enquiry.

Erasmus Center for Early Modern Studies »

The Erasmus Center for Early Modern Studies in Rotterdam is a joint initiative of Erasmus University Rotterdam and Rotterdam City Library. On the academic side, the center hosts the expertise on the early-modern era present in the Faculties of History and Arts, Law, and Philosophy while focusing on the way in which individual, community, and government in the Netherlands and Europe evolved between c. 1450 and c. 1750, and on how their mutual relations were viewed. On the library side, the center hosts one of the world’s largest collections of printed erasmiana which includes many first editions and autograph letters.

Commercial Partners

BRILL »

Publishers of FB, Brill were founded in 1683 in Leiden in the Netherlands. It is a leading academic publisher in many fields including Medieval and Early Modern Studies. Based in Leiden and Boston (MA), Brill publish more than 100 journals and around 500 books and reference works every year. Though its imprint, IDC Publisher, Brill is a major provider of primary source materials online and on microform.

IDC Publishers »

IDC Publishers has been operating as an imprint of Brill since 2006. Formed nearly 50 years ago, IDC Publishers has distinguished itself in academic publishing by providing access to and preserving primary sources and rare archival materials in digital and analogue formats.

ProQuest »

The project also has an agreement with Proquest, a leading publisher of digital text editions. Proquest is the publisher of EEBO, Early English Books on Line, the most widely used resource in Early Book scholarship.

Lyon & Turnbull »

Lyon and Turnbull is the third largest auction house in the UK. Based in Edinburgh, it hosted the launch of the French Vernacular Book project, and is heavily involved in experiments to test commercial applications of the USTC resource in the Antiquarian Book trade.

Library Partners

Special Collections Department, University Library, University of St Andrews »

The Library at St Andrews dates back to the early 17th Century and over the years has collected over one million volumes to support teaching, learning and research.

The University Library contains approximately 120,000 volumes of rare printed books, acquired by purchase and gift, since its foundation in the 15th century. The libraries of the colleges of St Leonard, St Salvator and St Mary, founded before that of the University itself, formed the first collections of books within the institution, and these were incorporated into the main library in the 18th century. The University library itself was founded by royal gift in 1611-12, when King James VI and I and members of his family presented over 200 volumes to the University to mark the founding of the Common Library.

From 1710 to 1837 the Library was entitled to a copy of every book printed in Britain under the Copyright Deposit Act, as a result of which it is particularly strong in 18th century material, with a special emphasis on books relating to the Scottish Enlightenment. The copyright privilege was lost in 1837, but the Library has continued to purchase rare books, particularly in fields related to the University’s teaching and research.

The main subject areas of the collections are theology, classics, history, English and Scottish literature, philosophy, science and medicine. There are about 150 incunabula, 5,000 16th century, 7,000 17th century, as well as a substantial general collection of 18th and 19th century items.

ENSSIB (École Nationale supérieure des sciences de l’information et des bibliothèques) »

ENSSIB has the role of training special collections and governmental librarians for both state and local government and in developing research in information science, and library and book history.

A ‘grand établissement d’enseignement supérieur’, ENSSIB was established in 1992 as a successor to the ENSB (École nationale supérieure de bibliothécaires) which was founded in Paris in 1963. ENSB moved to Villeurbanne in 1974. In 1999 ENSSIB merged with the Institut de formation des bibliothécaires, making it the only national school training “catégorie A des bibliothèques” in France.

Edward Worth Library, Dublin »

The book-collection assembled by Edward Worth (1678-1733), a notable Dublin physician, is one of the lesser-known treasures of the city’s cultural inheritance. It is housed in Dr Steevens’ Hospital, an institution of which Worth was a governor and major benefactor.

Edward Worth was a physician whose taste in books radiated outwards from his professional concern with medicine. He collected as a man of science, a gentleman, and a connoisseur. Beside medical books, ancient and modern (ie. 18th century), one finds important contributions to the study of related sciences, then philosophy, the classics, history etc. Worth was particularly interested in the book as object: the collection not only holds fine examples of sixteenth-century typography but is also considered to be the best collection of early modern bookbindings in Ireland.