The Nomenclator of Leiden University Library

On May 24, 1595, the Nomenclator of Leiden University Library appeared. It was the first printed catalog of an institutional library. From the article:

"ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY – On 24th May, 1595 AD, the Nomenclator of Leiden University Library appeared, the first printed catalogue of an institutional library in the world. The 16th-century Dutch Revolt against the Habsburgs created a new country with a new religion. Soon, the need for a seat of higher learning was felt and in 1575, Leiden University was founded in the Netherlands, with the spoils from a confiscated Catholic monastery nearby. It was immediately determined that a library in the vicinity of lecture halls was an absolute necessity and Leiden University Library was founded soon after. It is regarded as a significant place in the development of European culture: it is a part of a small number of cultural centres that gave direction to the development and spread of knowledge during the Enlightenment. This was due particularly to the simultaneous presence of a unique collection of exceptional sources and scholars. Readers were able to consult the complete alphabetical registers of the library in the form of bound catalogue cards, which remained the cataloguing system for the library until 1988."