European History

The political and religious upheavals of early modern Europe are captured as part of our European history special collection, which features: 

• pamphlets published in England, France, and the Netherlands, including our collection of seventeenth-century Dutch pamphlets, one of the largest in the world
• early printed Bibles illustrating political controversies that were generated by new translations of the Bible into Latin and the vernacular languages 
• early printed books on military art and science, a valuable historical resource for understanding advances in military science
• mathematical works on military applications, including gunnery and fortification

Important landmark bibles in the collection include Erasmus of Rotterdam’s Latin translation of the New Testament (Basil, 1516) and the second edition of William Tyndale’s English translation of the New Testament (Antwerp, 1536). 

The collection is housed in the Special Collections Research Center and we are focused on building these existing areas of strength and acquiring complementary materials.

Important related collections 

Our Bible holdings complement biblical texts in the papyrology collection and our collection of medieval manuscripts.