Republics
(original series name in Latin: Respublicae Elzevirianae)
(also known as: Elzevirian Republics; Petites Républiques)
Publisher: Officina Elzeviriana (or: Elzevir).
City and Country: Ludguni Batavorum [= Lugd. Bat.] [= Leiden] and at times Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Date: 1617-49.

REPUBLICS (ELZEVIR)
Series Note: "Between 1625 and 1649, the Leiden publishing house Elzevir issued a series of thirty-five descriptions of all European, select non-European, and three ancient states, Greece, Israel and Rome. (...) Each volume depicted the respective country's geography, is landscape and various regions, its people and mores, its government, its economy, its kings and noble families, and, in some cases, its arts and sciences as well. (...) Owing to their small size, they caused a stir among early modern printers and quickly became famous as the first pocketbook series in history."
-- Sina Rauschenbach, "Elzevirian Republics, wise merchants, and new perspectives on Spain and Portugal in the seventeenth-century Dutch Republic" (De Zeventiende Eeuw 29 (2013), pp. 81-100.

"Bonaventure and Abraham Elzevir launched another bestselling series, the Republics, published in Latin between 1626 and 1649. Each volume gave information on the geography, inhabitants, economy and history of a country in Europe, Asia, Africa or the Near East. The Republics were the ancestors of modern travel guides."
-- Martyn Lyons, Books: A Living History, London, Thames & Hudson, 2011, p. 80.

Arranged by year of publication


Petri Cunaei De Republica Hebraeorum libri III.
English translation of title: Petrus Cunaeus, Three Books on the Hebrew Republic.
Author(s): Petrus Cunaeus.
Date: 1617; 1632.
Subject: Ancient Israel.
Thomae Smithi Angli de republica Anglorum libri tres. : Item varij aliorum discursus politici de regno Angliae, eius[que] administratione..
English translation of title: Three books on the Commonwealth of England by the Englishman Thomas Smith. Also, various political discourses by others concerning the kingdom of England and its administration..
Author: Thomas Smith.
Date: 1625.
Subject: England.

Respublica Galliae (Respublica, sive, Status regni Galliae).
English translation of title: The Republic of France (The Republic, or the State, of the Kingdom of France).
Author: Claude de Seyssel (died 1520), Savoyard jurist and humanist.
Date: 1626.
Subject: France.

Respublica, sive Status Regni Scotiae et Hiberniae.
English translation of title: The Republic, or the State, of the Kingdom of Scotland and Ireland.
Authors: George Buchanan (1506-1582), Scottish historian and humanist scholar, and William Camden (1551-1623), as an English antiquarian, historian, topographer, and herald..
Date: 1627.
Subject: Scotland and Ireland.

Helvetiorum respublica : diversorum autorum, quorum nonnulli nunc primum in lucem prodeunt.
English translation of title: The Republic of the Helvetians: [works] by various authors, some of whom are appearing in print for the first time.
Authors: Daniel L'Hermite (1584-1613) Dutch artist and poet, and Josias Simmler (1530-1576), Swiss theologian.
Date: 1627.
Subject: Swiss Republic.

Casparis Contareni patricii Veneti De Repvblica Venetorvm Libri quinque : Item Synopsis reip: Venetae, et alii de eadem discursus politici
English translation of title: Five Books on the Venetian Republic by the Venetian Patrician Gasparo Contarini: Also a Synopsis of the Venetian Republic, and other political treatises on the same subject..
Authors: Gasparo Contarini (1483-1542), Catholic cardinal and Bishop of Belluno, Johannes van Cootwijk (Johannes Cotovicus) (1600-1629), Dutch traveller, Giulio Belli, Pierre d'Avity (1573-1635), French poet and writer, and Leandro Alberti (1479-1552), Italian historian, philosopher and theologian.
Date: 1628.
Subject: Venetian Republic.

Respublica Romana.
English translation of title: The Roman Republic.
Authors: Pieter Schrijver, Giulio Pomponio Leto, Raffaele Maffei, Andrea Alciati, Petrus Nannius, Justus Lipsius, Janus Gulielmus and George Wauchope.
Date: 1629.
Subject: Ancient Roman Republic.

Gallia, sive, De Francorum Regis Dominiis et opibus Commentarius.
English translation of title: Gaul, or, A Commentary on the Dominions and Resources of the King of the Franks.
Author: Johannes de Laet (1581-1649), Dutch geographer and director of the Dutch West India Company.
Date: 1629.
Date: 1629.
Subject: France.

Hispania sive de Regis Hispaniae regnis et Opibus, Commentarius.
English translation of title: Spain, or a Commentary on the Kingdoms and Wealth of the King of Spain.
Author: Johannes de Laet.
Subject: Ancient Roman Republic.

De Regno Daniae et Norwegiae, Insulisq[ue] adjacentibus: juxta ac De Holsatia, Dvcatv Sleswicensi, et finitimis provincijs, Tractatus varij, etc. Lugd. Bat. [= Leiden], Elzevir, 1629.
English translation of title: Various treatises concerning the Kingdom of Denmark and Norway and the adjacent islands, as well as Holstein, the Duchy of Schleswig, and neighboring provinces, etc..
Authors: Stephan Stephanius, Christian Friis, Adam, Saxo, Erik, Erpold Lindenbrog, Jon Jensen Kolding, Heinrich Rantzau and Arngrímur Jonsson.
Date: 1629.
Subject: Denmark and Norway.

Respublica Hollandiae et Urbes.
English translation of title: The Republic of Holland and the Cities.
Author(s): Petrus Scriverius.
Date: 1630.
Subject: Dutch Republic.

Respublica Moscoviae et Urbes. Accedunt quaedam latine nunquam editae.. 3 vols.
English translation of title: The Republic of Muscovy and Its Cities. Including some items never before published in Latin.
Author: Marcus Zuerius Boxhorn.
Date: 1630.
Subject: Muscovy.

Russia seu Moscovia itemque Tartaria : commentario topographico atque politico illustratae.
English translation of title: Russia or Muscovy, and likewise Tartary: illustrated with a topographical and political commentary.
Author: Marcus Zuerius Boxhorn.
Date: 1630.
Subject: Russia...

Belgii confoederati respublica seu Gelriae. Geldriae, Holland. Hollandiae, Zeland. Zelandiae, Traject. Traiectensis Dioecesis, Fris. Frisiae, Transisal. Transisalaniae, Groning. Groningae chorographica politicaque descriptio..
English translation of title: A chorographic and political description of the Republic of the United Netherlands, or of Guelders, Holland, Zeeland, the Diocese of Utrecht, Friesland, Overijssel, and Groningen.
Author: Johannes de Laet.
Date: 1630.
Subject: Belgium.

De imperio Magni Mogolis sive India vera commentarius. E variis auctoribus congestus.
English translation of title: A Commentary on the Empire of the Great Mughal, or True India. Compiled from various authors.
Author(s): Johannes de Laet.
Date: 1631
Subject: Mughal Empire.

Tractatus Varii de Principatibus Italiae: Editio secunda, priore longe auctior.
English translation of title: Various Treatises on the Principalities of Italy: Second edition, greatly expanded compared to the former..
Author(s): Thomas Segeth and Johannes de Laet.
Date: 1631.
Subject: Principalities of Italy.

Emmii (Ubbonis) Graecorum Respublicae, 2 vols in one.
English translation of title: Ubbo Emmius's Republics of the Greeks.
Author: Ubbo Emmius.
Engraver: Cornelis Claeszoon Duysend.
Date: 1632-1644.
Subject: Ancient Greece.

Suecia, sive Suecorum Regis Dominiis et Opibus Commentarius.
English translation of title: xxxx.
Author(s): xxxxx.
Date: 1633.
Subject: Sweden.

Sabaudiae Respublica et Historia.
English translation of title: xxxx.
Author(s): xxxxx.
Date: 1634.
Subject: ___

Turcici Imperii Status, accedit de Regno Algeriano atque Tunetano Commentarius.
English translation of title: xxxx.
Author(s): xxxxx.
Date: 1634.
Subject: Turkey, Algeria, Tunis.

Respublica et Status Regni Hungariae.
English translation of title: xxxx.
Author(s): xxxxx.
Date: 1634.
Subject: Hungary.

Respublica et Status Imperii Romano-Germanici, 2 vols.
English translation of title: xxxx.
Author(s): xxxxx.
Date: 1634-1640.
Subject: Holy Roman Empire.

Respublica Lutzenburgensis, Hannoniae et Namurcensis. Amsterdam, 1635.
English translation of title: xxxx.
Author(s): xxxxx.
Date: 1635.
Subject: Republics of Lucerne, Hannover, Namur.

Regni Chinensis Descriptio ex variis auctoribus.
English translation of title: A Description of the Chinese Kingdom.
Compiler and editor: Nicolas Trigault (with material derived largely from Matteo Ricci's journals.
Date: 1639.
Subject: Kingdom of China.

Bertramus (Bonav. Corn.) de Republica Ebraeorum.
English translation of title: xxxx.
Author(s): xxxxx.
Date: 1641.
Subject: Ancient Israel.

Thomae Smithi Angli de republica Anglorum libri tres. : Quibus accesserunt Chorographica illius desecriptio, alii[que] politici tractatus..
English translation of title: Three books on the Commonwealth of England by the Englishman Thomas Smith; to which have been added his chorographical description and other political treatises.
Author(s): Thomas Smith and Johannes de Laet.
Date: 1641 ("Editio ultima prioribus multo auctior" i.e. The latest edition, much expanded compared to previous ones).
Subject: England.

Respublica, sive Status Regni Poloniae, Liuanae, Prussiae, Livoniae, etc.
English translation of title: xxxx.
Author(s): xxxxx.
Date: 1642.
Subject: Poland, Latvia, Prussia, Lithuania, etc.

Respublica Poloniae. Elzevir, 1642.
English translation of title: xxxx.
Author(s): xxxxx.
Date: 1642.
Subject: Poland.

Stranskii (M. Pauli) Respublica Bohemiae.
English translation of title: xxxx.
Author(s): xxxxx.
Date: 1643.
Subject: Bohemia.

Persia seu Regni Persici Status variaque Itinera in atque per Persiam: cum Aliquot Iconibus Incolarum..
(English translation of title: Persia, or the state of the Persian kingdom: and various journeys into and through Persia).
Author: Johannes de Laet.
Date: 1647.
Subject: Persia.

Varenii (Bern.) Descriptio Regni Japoniae, 2 vols. in 1. Amsterdam, Elzevir, 1649.
English translation of title: xxxx.
Author(s): xxxxx.
Date: 1649.
Subject: Kingdom of Japan.

POSSIBLE ADDITIONS

Werdenhagen (Jo. Angelii) de Rebuspublicis Hanseaticis Tractatus generalis et specialis, 4 vols. in 3. 1631.
Subject: Hanseatic Republic.

Werdenhagen. Introductio Universalis in omnes Republicas, sive Politica Generalis. fine portrait. Amsterdam, 1632.
Subject: Universal Introduction to All Republics, or General Politics.


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Author: David Paul Wagner
(David Paul Wagner on Google+)