House of Elzevir

Elzevir is the name of a family of Dutch booksellers, publishers, and printers of the 17th and early 18th centuries. The duodecimo series of "Elzevirs" became very famous and very desirable among bibliophiles, who sought to obtain the tallest and freshest copies of these tiny books.^[1][2]

Although it appears the family was involved with the book trade as early as the 16th century, it is only known for its work in some detail beginning with Lodewijk Elzevir (also called Louis). The family ceased printing in 1712, but a contemporary publisher, Elsevier (founded in 1880), took over, for marketing purposes, the name and logo of this early modern business, but without having any real historical connections to it.