De Gruyter Book Archive
Discover the treasures of the De Gruyter Book Archive. De Gruyter has digitized its entire backlist, going all the way back to 1749.
The archive provides access to high-quality primary sources, making more than 270 years of scientific and literary history digitally available.
More than 53,000 titles from over 270 years of academic publishing
Goethe, Schleiermacher, the Brothers Grimm, Max Planck, Noam Chomsky, and Jürgen Habermas – these are just few of the authors who published with us and whose titles can be found in our archive, which comprises more than 53,000 titles. Now, more than 270 years later, we are breathing new life into the treasures in our archive by making them digitally available.
Titles, formats, and purchase options
All of our books were carefully digitized and optimized to deliver high-quality eBooks:
- PDF format, indexed and full-text searchable
- DOIs and MARC records available
- DRM-free
- Available as fixed ebook packages, in P&C or as individual titles
All titles are also available as hardcover PoDs. Title lists are available on request from your regional sales contact.
DE GRUYTER BOOK ARCHIVE – SENSITIVE CONTENT
The archive provides access to primary sources for historical research in the broadest possible sense. De Gruyter did publish books between 1933 and 1945 and due to their political or ideological orientation some of these books are not actively marketed and can’t be purchased by individuals.
We made a conscious choice against blacklisting books. As a publishing house, we do not believe in censorship. All possible titles from the De Gruyter catalogue from the period before 1945 have been included in the digital De Gruyter Book Archive in their complete and unabridged form. Certain titles are not available for sale alone or in book packages in either digital or print form. These books are available in digital form only on request, and only as objects of study or academic research or for specific research purposes.
Currently, these titles are not listed on degruyter.com. Beginning in 2020, only the title information will be listed with a note indicating the book's status. If you see titles on our site that you believe should be considered for this classification, please write to sensitive-content@degruyter.com. Our advisory group will respond to you immediately.
No, these books are offered exclusively to libraries and research institutions for academic study. Please contact your library or research institution for access to these books.
Libraries and institutions can send a usage request to sensitive-content@degruyter.com. Our staff will review your request and get back to you.
For its digitalization project, De Gruyter formed an advisory group to review the publisher's entire catalogue from before 1945 and assess its ethical stance or ideological orientation. In addition to De Gruyter professionals, this group includes also the contemporary historian Dr. Angelika Königseder (Berlin).
The story behind the De Gruyter Book Archive
With our On-Demand service “edition“ 10,000 formerly out-of-print books were digitized between 2011 and 2017. The success of this initiative all over the world demonstrated the importance of preserving academic history. Therefore, we made the decision to digitize our entire archive back to 1749 and make all titles available as eBooks and as hardcover reprints.
A look into the archive

De Gruyter, Verlagsgebäude (1943)

De Gruyter, Fassade am Verlagssitz in Berlin

Goethe's Schriften (1787)