Iberian Books

The UCD Iberian Book Project (IB) seeks to provide a foundational survey of books published on the Iberian Peninsula or printed elsewhere in Spanish or Portuguese before the middle of the seventeenth century.  Bringing together information that has to date remained fragmented and disparate, IB will form the basis for a national short-title catalogue and, consequently, be of enormous value to scholars interested in the literature and history of early-modern Spain and Portugal, or in the book world of Europe in this great age of print.  In addition, it will enable greater strategic thinking both in conserving this printed heritage and how that heritage is made available to the global scholarly community. 

 

Aims

 

From 2007 to 2010, the Project concentrated on the first age of publishing, that is the period from 1472 to 1600. From 2010 until 2014, the Project funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation will focus its attentions on the first half of the seventeenth century, from 1601 to 1650. IB aims to provide a practical resource, helping to identify works by a given author or publisher, or on a given subject.  It is difficult to overstate the very substantial barrier to research that exists at present, with scholars forced to confront information fragmented across various published and online catalogues and bibliographies. 

1. IB will permit broader thinking and the ability to contextualise research.  It is simply not possible at present to develop anything more than a myopic impression of publishing on the Peninsula, as scholars are forced to confront small, independent catalogues. 
2. IB will aid conservation of what is a truly global printed heritage.  IB will be able to target digitisation efforts.  In particular it will make libraries aware when theirs is the only known surviving copy of a book or pamphlet, and thus a priority for conservation filming.  At a glance, libraries and commercial publishers will also be able to see whether other items have already been digitised elsewhere.  It is very much hoped that the project will encourage greater global strategic thinking in the preservation and dissemination of early printed books.
3. IB will make scholars aware of the existence of such digitised or microfilmed material being produced – often at some expense – by many smaller as well as larger institutions worldwide.  Awareness and accessibility of digital editions will do much to promote the study of the cultures of the Iberian Peninsula.

 

The USTC Project

 

The Iberian Book Project is a partner of the Universal Short Title Catalogue Project based at the University of St Andrews. This initiative seeks to bring together Europe's national bibliographic projects into a single searchable interface.

 

Contact Us

 

For more information, please contact the Project's Principal Investigator, Dr Alexander Wilkinson.