Louis Elzevir II. 1590-1621 (9 books).
Jacob. 1621-1636 (3 books).
[A total of 12 books in 31 years.]
The Amsterdam Press.
Louis Elzevir III. 1638-1655 (231 books).
Marks.—The Sphere.
Minerva (most frequent).
Louis and Daniel Elzevir. 1655-1664 (150 books).
Marks.—The Sphere.
Minerva (most frequent).
Daniel Elzevir. 1664-1680 (260 books).
Marks.—The Sphere.
The Widow of Daniel Elzevir. 1680-1681 (7 books).
Minerva.
Marks.—Minerva.
The Sphere; motto—"Indefessus Agendo".
The Eagle; motto—"Movendo".
[A total of 658 books in 43 years.]
After seven books had been published by the representative of Daniel Elzevir, the business was wound up. The ornamental punches, &c., by Christopher Van Dyck, were sold, and most probably melted down.
The Utrecht Press (so called, though it was merely a
publishing centre).
Peter Elzevir. 1667-1675 (10 books).
Marks.—The Sphere.
The Hermit.
Minerva sitting under an olive tree; motto—"Pallas
Trajectina semper Augusta".
[The total number of books produced by the whole family during 129 years amounts to 1618 works.]
The above are the chief, but by no means the only, marks used by the various members of the family. The few which have not been noticed occur only at rare intervals, and are of but little importance. One device, representing a bees' nest, with a fox and the motto "Quaerendo," though frequently ascribed to the Elzevirs, is in reality none of theirs, being the mark of Abraham Wolfgang, a Dutch printer of considerable repute.
The Elzevirs, as before stated, were pirates, who thought nothing of reproducing the full title-page, with the original publisher's name, and, when this is the case, it is often a matter of very great difficulty to distinguish between the original and the reprint. Again, when these printers did not wish to put their name to any particular work, for fear of embroiling themselves with the Government, they either marked it with the Sphere or else adopted a pseudonym. Thus Jean and Daniel frequently marked their title-pages "A Leyde, chez Jean Sambix," the Amsterdam printers occasionally adopted "Jacques le Jeune," while "Nic Schouter" was a favourite fictitious name. These pseudonyms are, however, much less numerous than was at one time supposed. The first reproduction of the Provincial Letters, by Louis and Daniel Elzevir, of Amsterdam, bears on the title-page, "A Cologne, chés Pierre de la Vallée, 1657"; that of 1659, by Jean Elzevir, of Leyden, has "A Cologne, chez Nicolas Schoute". A Recueil de Diverses Pièces servant à l'Histoire de Henry III., &c., bears "A Cologne, chez Pierre du Marteau"; Les Imaginaires, of the Sieur de Damvilliers, in its two parts purports to be issued "A Liége, chez Adolphe Beyers". Il Divortio Celeste, with other works of Pallavicini, dates from Villafranca, while other undoubted productions of the Elzevir press were ostensibly published "A Mons, chez Gaspard Migeot; Londini, typis Du Guardianis; Stampati in Cosmopoli," and so on, through a list which, difficult enough to remember, is yet not very extensive.