Interactive explorations of 1.6 million early printed books. Maps, timelines, and dashboards built from the Universal Short Title Catalogue.
See research essays →Watch printing spread across Europe from Mainz (1454) to 700+ cities by 1700. Each dot represents a printing center; size shows output volume.
KEY INSIGHT
Venice dominated early printing, but by 1600 the industry had spread to Protestant Northern Europe.
702
Cities
250
Years
1.6M
Works mapped
Explore the lives and output of major printers and prolific authors. See who was publishing when, and how careers overlapped.
KEY INSIGHT
The 50 most prolific printers produced over 500 editions each. Names like Plantin, Elzevier, and Gryphe shaped what Europe read.
50
Printers
75
Authors
1450–1700
Time span
Dive into the USTC data. Filter by language, year, place, and classification. See how Latin publishing evolved over 250 years.
KEY INSIGHT
Latin peaked around 1600, then declined as vernacular languages rose. German overtook Latin in the 1670s.
1.63M
Total works
503K
Latin works
40+
Classifications
Scroll through three centuries of hermetic, alchemical, and occult publications. From Ficino's Corpus Hermeticum to the Rosicrucian manifestos.
KEY INSIGHT
Esoteric publishing peaked during the early 17th century, coinciding with the Rosicrucian excitement of the 1610s-20s.
500+
Works tracked
1469–1750
Time span
6
Traditions
All visualizations are built from the Universal Short Title Catalogue, a database of all books printed in Europe between the invention of printing and the end of the seventeenth century. The USTC is maintained by the University of St Andrews and contains records for over 1.6 million editions.
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