An anthropogenic emissions data set has been constructed for CO2, CO, CH4, nonmethane volatile organic compounds, SO2, NOx, N2O, and NH3 spanning the period 1890--1990. The inventory is based on version 2.0 of the Emission Database for Global Atmospheric Research (EDGAR 2.0). In EDGAR the emissions are calculated per country and economic sector using an emission factor approach. Calculations of the emissions with 10 year intervals are based on historical activity statistics and selected emission factors. Historical activity data were derived from the Hundred Year Database for Integrated Environmental Assessments (1890--1990) supplemented with other data and our own estimates. Emission factors account for changes in economical and technological developments in the past. The calculated emissions on a country basis have been interpolated onto a 1¿¿1¿ grid. This consistent data set can be used in trend studies of tropospheric trace gases and in environmental assessments, for example, the analysis of historical contributions of regions and countries to environmental forcing like the enhanced greenhouse gas effect, acidification, and eutrofication. The database focuses on energy/industrial and agricultural/waste sources; for completeness, historical biomass-burning estimates where added using a simple and transparent approach. ¿ 2001 American Geophysical Union