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The Erasmus Collection of Rotterdam City Library is one of the largest, if not the largest in the world. Apart from its own collection the Library also possesses a unique card index — the so-called Apparaat Van Gulik — containing bibliographical descriptions of about 6,000 editions of Erasmus’s works.
IDC Publishers has initiated the publication of Erasmus Online. IDC has digitized the Apparaat van Gulik and has made it accessible through a search engine. This allows searching more than 5,000 bibliographic descriptions of rare editions and early translations. Over 2,000 entries include an illustration of the title page as well. All this makes Erasmus Online a useful tool not only for philologists and historians, for book historians, philosophers and theologians, but for booksellers and auctioneers as well. Apparaat van Gulik The initiator of this file is Egbertus van Gulik, MA (1910–1998). Educated as a historian, he was librarian of Rotterdam City Library from 1961 to 1973. Between 1965 and 1989 he was a member of the Conseil international pour l’édition des oeuvres complètes d’Erasme. His major work on Erasmus’s private book collection will be published posthumously in 2005 or 2006 by University of Toronto Press. Starting-point for Van Gulik’s index was the “Bibliotheca Erasmiana”, a provisional repertoire of Erasmus’s works, published by Ferdinand vander Haeghen in 1893. The information on library locations and the bibliographical references basically reflect the situation as it was by 1970. Although entries have since been regularly added and updated, this was not done in a systematic or comprehensive way. The international world of scholarship attaches great importance to this card index named after Van Gulik. It is the starting-point for any serious study of Erasmus’s works. For this reason it was decided to digitize the index and to publish it here under the name Erasmus Online, thus making it accessible worldwide. Erasmus Online Erasmus Online offers a modern search functionality enabling complicated search actions such as: all editions of the “Praise of Folly” published between 1520 and 1530 but not in Antwerp. They encompass Latin texts as well as translations. Each edition is accompanied by its present location thanks to data collected among hundreds of libraries throughout the world. Bibliographical references are added in many cases as well. Work in progress This database is a work in progress. Since both Van Gulik’s index and Vander Haeghen’s repertoire are inexhaustive according to modern scholarly standards, their contents are continuously enlarged and updated. In the course of time a comprehensive bibliographical description of each title entry will be provided. This digitizing project was made possible thanks to generous financial support from the foundations Erasmusstichting in Rotterdam and Stichting Bevordering van Volkskracht in Rotterdam. Realization has occurred in conjunction between the Erasmus Center for Early Modern Studies, IDC Publishers of Leiden and Witchbiet Internet Development in Rotterdam. They encompass Latin texts as well as translations. Each edition is accompanied by its present location thanks to data collected among hundreds of libraries throughout the world. Bibliographical references are added in many cases as well. Prof. dr. Hans Trapman
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