ELZEVIR, the name of a family of Dutch printers belong ing to the 17th. century. The original name was Elsevier, or Elzevier, and their French editions mostly retain this name; but in their Latin editions the name is spelt Elzeverius, gradually cor rupted in English into Elzevir. Louis (154o-1617), who first made the name Elzevir famous, was born at Louvain. Compelled in 158o, on account of his Protestantism and his adherence to the cause of the insurgent provinces, to leave his native country, he established himself as bookbinder and bookseller in Leyden. The earliest Elzevir is now known to be Drusii Ebraicarum quaestionum ac responsionum libri duo, produced in 1583. In all he published about 15o works. Of his five sons, Matthieu, Louis, Gilles, Joost and Bonaventure, Bonaventure, who was born in 1583, is the most celebrated. He began business as a printer in 1608, and in 1626 took into partnership Abraham, a son of Matthieu. Both died in 1652. The fame of the Elzevir editions rests chiefly on the works issued by this firm. Their Greek and Hebrew impressions are inferior to those of the Aldi and the Estiennes, but their small editions in 12m0, i6mo and 24mo, for elegance of design, neatness, clearness and regularity of type and beauty of paper, cannot be surpassed. Especially may be mentioned the two editions of the New Testament in Greek, pub lished in 1624 and 1633, of which the latter is the more beautiful and the more sought after ; the Psalterium Davidis, 1653 ; Virgilii opera, 1636; Terentii comediae, 1635; but the works which gave their press its chief celebrity are their collection of French authors on history and politics in 24mo, known under the name of the Petites Republiques, and their series of Latin, French and Italian classics in small 12m0. Jean, son of Abraham, born in 1622, had since 1647 been in partnership with his father and uncle, and when they died Daniel, son of Bonaventure, born in 1626, joined him. Their partnership did not last more than two years, and after its dissolution Jean carried on the business alone till his death in 166r. In 1654 Daniel joined his cousin Louis (the third of that name), who had established a printing press at Amsterdam in 1638. From 16S5 to 1666 they published a series of Latin classics in 8vo, cum notis variorum; Cicero in 4to ; the Etymologicon linguae Latinae; and a magnificent Corpus juris civilis in folio, 2 vols., 1663. The last representatives of the Elzevir printers were Peter, grandson of Joost, and Abraham, son of the first Abraham, who from 1681 to 1712 was university printer at Leyden.
Some of the Elzevir editions bear no other typographical mark than simply the words Apud Elzeverios, or Ex oficina Elseveriana, under the rubrique of the town. But the majority bear one of their special devices, four of which are recognized as in common use. Louis Elzevir, the founder of the family, usually adopted the arms of the United Provinces, an eagle on a cippus holding in its claws a sheaf of seven arrows, with the motto Concordia res parvae crescunt. About 162o the Leyden Elzevirs adopted a device, known as "the solitary," and consisting of an elm tree, a fruitful vine and a man alone, with a motto Non solus. They also used another device, a palm tree with the motto, Assurgo pressa. The Elzevirs of Amsterdam used for their principal de vice a figure of Minerva with owl, shield and olive tree, and the motto, Ne extra oleas. The earliest productions of the Elzevir press are marked with an angel bearing a book and a scythe, and various other devices occur. When the Elzevirs did not wish to put their name to their works they generally marked them with a sphere, but the fact that a work printed in the 17th cen tury bears this mark is no proof that it is theirs. The total number of works of all kinds which came from the presses of the Elzevirs is given by Willems as 1,608; there have also been many forgeries. See Alphonse Willems, Les Elsevier (188o), with a history of the Elzevir family and their printing establishments, a chronological list and detailed description of all works printed by them, their various typographical marks, and a plate illustrating the types used by them ; Kelchner, Catalogus librorum officinae Elsevirianae (188o) ; Frick, Die Elzevirschen Republiken (Halle, 1892) ; Berghman, Etudes sur la bibliographie Elzevirienne (Stockholm, 1885), and Nouvelles etudes, etc. (ib. 1897). See H. B. Copinger, The Elzevier Press (London, 1927).