Database of Early Italian Books

During the spring, we purchased a database called "Early European Books." Like the well-known Early English Books Online (EEBO), which it complements, EEB contains high resolution digital images of books printed in continental Europe from the advent of printing until 1700. We acquired Collection 2, which contains early Italian books and will be a valuable resource to anyone doing research on early modern Italy.

This database contains books scanned from the BNC-Firenze, and focuses on four collections of particular interest:

• books published by the Aldine Press 
• books with notable marginalia, including works owned and marked by Galileo
• incunabula (works printed before 1501)
• Sacred representations - early dramatic representations of religious scenes seen as foundational works in the history of Italian theater. 

For more details, see the publisher's description.

The collection is found on the databases page, and in SearchWorks under the title "Early European Books."