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This dataset consists of two zip files, `emdfl_data.zip` and `emdfl_data_code.zip`. The `emdfl_data.zip` archive consists of seven CSV files which contain information -- with different levels of precision and completeness -- on between 17 942 and 55 178 dissertations published between 1564 and 1800 and held in French libraries. The datasets were derived from catalogue records in the general catalogue of the French national library (Bibliothèque Nationale de France, BNF) and the union catalogue of French university libraries (SUDOC). The `emdfl_data_code.zip` archive contains the underlying git repository, code in Python notebooks and downloaded files in order to document the research process. It is documented in a README file in the root directory of the repository. Here, we only describe the selection criteria and additional details for the `emdfl_data.zip`archive. In order to be included in the final dataset, catalogue records had to meet four criteria: We were able to find a determinate date of publication in the catalogue record. We could identify at least one reference to an author or contributor. We do not expect a unique identifier derived froman authority file. We could find a valid title. The dissertation was published after 1563. The last criterion is somewhat ad hoc, but is based on the diagnosis that for records containing an earlier date, the status of the underlying books as academic dissertations is somewhat dubious. All records meeting these four criteria are part of the 'bronze' dataset. It is coextensive with what we have called the ‘silver’ dataset for libraries. In other words, all records in the bronze dataset also contain valid identifiers for holding libraries. Both sets contain 55 178 records. The ‘silver’ dataset ‘Place’ documents in addition uniquely identifiable places of publication and contains 49 423 records. The silver dataset ‘Discipline’ contains additional information about the discipline to which a given dissertation belongs and contains 36 924 records. The silver dataset ‘Persons’ contains all records for which we could obtain at least one valid VIAF identifier for a person (an author, supervisor, or printer). It comprises 31 184 records. All records associated with one of these files have a unique ID, so that these datasets can be merged for analysis e. g. of the temporal and geographical distribution of dissertations, a topic that would require the intersection of the silver ‘Discipline’ and ‘Place’ datasets. The ‘gold’ dataset ‘Person Year Place’ includes at least one unique identifier for a person in the catalogue record, the year and the place of publication. It comprises 27 413 catalogue records. The ‘gold’ dataaset ‘All’ includes the same information as ‘Person Year Place’, but in addition also references the discipline of the dissertation. It contains 17 942 records.