Elsevier, the modern publishing company, was founded in 1880.  It has evolved from a small Dutch publishing house that was devoted to classical scholarship into an international multimedia publishing company with over 20,000 products for educational and professional science and healthcare communities worldwide. Elsevier takes its name from the original House of Elzevir, the family publishing house that was founded in 1580.

Elsevier’s history reflects a series of collaborations in the effort to advance science and health. The fruits of publishing collaborations with a group of scientific visionaries — ranging from Jules Verne to Stephen W. Hawking — created the foundation of scientific and medical publishing.

Equally important have been the efforts of the men and women who have continued dedicating their lives to disseminating and using scientific and medical knowledge: the editors, the printers, the librarians, the nurses, the doctors, the engineers, the information specialists and the business people who are at the heart of scientific and health publishing.

Relationships with other great science publishers such as North Holland, Excerpta Medica, Pergamon, Mosby, W.B. Saunders, Churchill Livingstone and Academic Press have also been Integral to our success. These are just a few of the companies that are now part of the Elsevier family, bringing with them rich histories of their own. As the company moves forward, our founding motto is more apt than ever: Non Solus-- Not Alone.

Read more about:

A Short History of Elsevier (Download the PDF)
History of the Elsevier Logo
Elsevier Honors and Awards
Our Tribute to the Nobel Laureates