ELZEVIER (ELSEVIER). - Family of printers and booksellers active between 1583 and 1712 in establishments at Leiden, Amsterdam, The Hague, Utrecht, and Copenhagen.
The most important were those of Leiden, founded by LODEWIJK I (b. at Leuven c. 1540), which became extinct in 1713, and of Amsterdam, founded in 1637 by LODEWIJK III (1604–70) and ending in 1681. The former reached its
apogee under the partners BONAVENTURA and ABRAHAM, who in 1625 began the series of Républiques, 62 small 12mo volumes containing descriptions of the principal countries of the world, and in 1629 the no less successful library of Latin classics. The latter flourished especially through the work of DANIEL (1626–80), who linked his name to the French edition of the Bible in 2 vols. (1669).
Elzevir editions are distinguished by their small format (12mo, 16mo, and 24mo) and by their fine and highly elegant typefaces.