The Croatian Collections in the British Library

Abstract

ABSTRACT The paper discusses Croatian historic collections acquired by the British Museum Library in the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century. The results of previous research into the collection are mentioned and the new findings are presented. The paper considers the growth of the Croatian collection to the present and it describes the current holdings. Special attention is paid to academic publications which are at the core of the historic collections and these collections continue to be an important part of the Croatian contemporary collections. The paper states that the British Library holds over 30,000 Croatian titles and more than 100,000 items in various formats: books, journals, periodical issues, maps, manuscripts, typescripts, microform, and digital objects, as well as electronic journals and other e-collections. It argues that together with other resources in the Library, the British Library is the largest Croatian cultural, scientific, research, and information center in the U.K.