Picture our past

1901... After working together for several years in Oxford, England at the Parker bookstore, Adriaan Swets and Heinrich Zeitlinger open a small bookshop in Amsterdam specializing in new and antiquarian scientific books.

Although Heinrich Zeitlinger leaves the business a year later, his name continues to grace the company and over the next couple of decades Swets & Zeitlinger becomes world renowned as a library supply company, with business to England continuing during the Great War years. (1914-1918) In 1918 the company acquires the Amsterdam-based Eisendraht bookstore, leading to expansive contact with the Dutch Indies.

1920's... By 1927, when Adriaan's son W.A. Swets enters the business, the company is a combination of academic bookstore and publisher. Reluctant to work with his father in the bookstore, W.A. founds two new divisions: the Antiquariaat, dealing with back volumes of scientific books, and the subscription service.

1930's... The subscription enterprise answers a rising need for a reliable subscription service and grows at an exponential rate. International contacts are made with libraries in the United Kingdom, Asia, the United States, Canada and Latin America. In 1938, an attempt is made to found the first US office. The war intervenes.

1940's... All plans to expand are cut off suddenly by the war. During the long war years, Swets has the foresight to continue to pay and store the subscriptions for their 10 largest clients in the US and South Africa. With peace in 1945, Swets informs their major clients of the waiting collections. The libraries prove extremely grateful for this extraordinary service. Swets' wartime investment is reimbursed with strong American dollars which pave the way for decades of expansion.

1950's... As the international nature of scientific collaboration and publication changes, books migrate into periodicals issued several times a year. By the end of the decade the number of scientific journals in circulation has risen by 100% and the number of libraries in existance has mushroomed. The triumph of opening offices in the US and Brazil is juxtaposed by a disastrous fire in 1951, destroying the invaluable Antiquariaat collection.

1960's... Swets Subscription Services expands until it becomes Swets & Zeitlinger's chief activity, the largest subscription agent in Europe and one of the largest worldwide. Swets' rapid growth enables the company to move from its historic canal house to a brand new office in Lisse with 11,500m2 floorspace some 30 km from Amsterdam.

1970's... The new Lisse location enables Swets to pioneer a new form of service, consolidation, which uses dedicated distribution centers to simplify the processing, claiming and delivery of journals to libraries. By the end of the decade, the bookshop closes its doors, Swets has 200 employees, worldwide offices and the subscription administration is completely automated. The company begins a partnership with the French company, Europériodiques.

1980's... International offices are opened throughout the world to set up local service centers and ensure quality service in the local language: Tokyo, Japan in 1982, Abingdon, UK and Frankfurt, Germany in 1984 and finally Milan, Italy in 1988.

1990's... This decade is marked by acquisitions of smaller subscription businesses throughout Europe: Stobart & Son Ltd., Kunst und Wissen Erich Bieber GmbH, Microstore Holding B.V., Bailey Subscription Agents Ltd., H.K. Lewis Co. in London, Unversitas Division of the Literary Group Ltd. in South Africa; Standaard Boekhandel’s subscription division, Boekhandel Kooijker, Wennergren & Williams Information Services AB based in Sweden; the Nordic Information Center in Denmark, Narvesen Information Center in Norway and the European division of Faxon.

By the end of the decade a historic merger has taken place: Swets Blackwell is created through the merger between Swets Subscription Service, a division of Royal Swets & Zeitlinger, and Blackwell's Information Services, a division of Blackwell Ltd.

In the 21st century... Following the merger of these two companies to form Swets Blackwell, a single, stronger organization underlines the commitment to help customers and publishers meet the evolving challenges of the new century. Subscription agency Martinus Nijhoff International is taken over in 2001.

Towards the end of 2003, Swets buys up Blackwell's remaining shares and drops the use of the Blackwell trade name, resulting in the launch of Swets Information Services. The subscription portfolio of W.H. Everett and Son Limited is purchased in 2004.

Swets acquires the Dutch Bookseller Frencken B.V. in 2008. Today, the company is recognized as the world's leading subscription management company, providing top quality service to the world's leading academic, corporate, medical and governmental organizations, as well as over 40% of all Fortune 500 companies. The company's dedicated and experienced staff support customers in over 160 countries from more than 20 offices around the world.

Be a part of our future

You’ve read about our past. Let Swets manage your subscriptions and you too can be a part of our successful future.

To find out about Swets' current activities, and how they can help your organization, simply choose the link that's most appropriate to your role from the list below.

Services for Information Professionals
Services for Procurement Managers
Services for Publishers