Incunabula Short Title Catalogue (ISTC)
The international database of 15th-century European printing
The international database of 15th-century European printing
The Incunabula Short Title Catalogue is the international database of 15th-century European printing created by the British Library with contributions from institutions worldwide.
You can:
The database records nearly every item printed from movable type before 1501, but not material printed entirely from woodblocks or engraved plates. 30,518 editions are listed as of August 2016, including some 16th-century items previously assigned incorrectly to the 15th century.
Information on each item includes authors, short titles, the language of the text, printer, place and date of printing, and format. Locations for copies have been confirmed by libraries all over the world. Many links are provided to online digital facsimiles, and also to major online catalogues of incunabula such as the Gesamtkatalog der Wiegendrucke, the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek Inkunabelkatalog and Bod-Inc online.
A number of copies recorded in ISTC are now described in detail in the Material Evidence in Incunabula (MEI) database. In due course, links will be added from the copies recorded in ISTC to their descriptions in MEI.
If you require help searching the ISTC using the field codes/names, you can find a brief guide here.
Additions and amendments to ISTC are made frequently, and new information, and comments and suggestions are always welcome by e-mail at incunabula@bl.uk.