Abraham catalogues the location and ownership of Belgian national, regional, and local newspapers kept in more than one hundred libraries and heritage institutions.
[3] The database was named after Abraham Verhoeven (Antwerp, 1575–1652), who is considered to be the first publisher of newspapers in the Southern Netherlands.
His Nieuwe Tijdinghen (New Tidings) was a substantial contribution to the early beginnings of a daily form of newspaper.
The catalogue was created to increase access to historical newspapers, a goldmine of cultural-historical information.
Frequent consultation of the newspapers poses considerable risks, especially for those published from 1830 to 1950, which were often printed on fragile and low-quality paper.