Let me bring you to an off the beaten path in my eternal Paris but a very interesting place to visit , me think, This is a library with a lot of history of France that many do not dare to visit, I admit my times here have been briefs just to read on historical books ; therefore, this post will be on my black and white series, no pictures, We do come to Paris , and one of the thing to do is to see these wonderful monuments for the architecture and history and glorious walks. Therefore, let me tell you about the Bibliothéque National de France , site François Mitterrand !!! Hope you enjoy the post as I.
The François Mitterrand site of the BnF is made up of two libraries: a public library open from Tuesday to Sunday, a research library open from Monday to Saturday. The various access titles allow you to access the reading rooms as well as the cultural programming. Free access spaces allow you to take advantage of work places outside the reading room and to freely visit the building. The four towers in the shape of an open book delimit the perimeter of the esplanade. They house seven floors of offices protected by movable wooden shutters and eleven floors of stores. The National Library of France has fourteen departments and several collections mainly kept on its four Parisian sites, including the Department of Coins, Medals and Antiques, heir to the Cabinet of Medals. The collections as a whole represent approximately 150 million printed and specialized documents.
The official National Library François-Mitterrand of France is located at Quai François Mauriac 13éme arrondissemnt left bank of the Seine river, and can be reach on line 14 François Mitterrand Library, Saint-Ouen hôtel de ville / Olympiades sortie or exit 1 Rue du Chevaleret, 2 Avenue de France National Library of France, 3 Rue Goscinny and 4 Pont de Tolbiac, Also, RER C Bibliothèque François-Mitterrand direction Pontoise or Massy or Dourdan or Versailles or Étampes or St-Quentin-en-Yvelines, There are several bus lines such as 25, 62, 64, 71, 89, 132, and 325, This is for info only as my only times there have been by car, to the staff car park (entrance Quai François-Mauriacà on presentation of a supporting ID document. The elevators in this car park give you direct access to the halls. Also, outside and a couple blocks you have underground parking Indigo- François Mitterrand Library by Rue Emile Durkheim, 21. The visit allows, in a privileged way, to explore behind the scenes of the library, to understand its functioning and to access the Belvedere, top floor of one of the 4 “book tours” to admire a magnificent panoramic view of Paris and the Seine.
The National Library of France (BnF), so called since 1994, is the national library of the French Republic, inaugurated under this new name on March 30, 1995 , Heir to the royal collections constituted since the Middle Ages, it has one of the most richest in the world. First institution in charge of collecting the legal deposit, from 1537, it is the most important library in France and one of the most important in the world. The historic site, dating from the 17C, which now occupies an entire block, is located in the 2éme arrondissement of Paris, on the site of the Palais Mazarin and the Hotel Tubeuf, which also housed the Paris Stock Exchange in the 18C. It is commonly referred to as the “quadrilateral Richelieu”, named after the street from its main entrance. bounded by the streets of Petits-Champs , Vivienne , Colbert and Richelieu (main entrance).
The National Library of France has its origins in the king’s library installed in 1368 at the Louvre by Charles V, in the Falconry tower, and whose inventory, drawn up by Gilles Mallet in 1373, the king’s first bookseller , comprised 917 manuscripts. It was therefore only from the reign of Louis XI that the king’s library knew a certain continuity, without dispersion of the collections. In 1544, it was joined to that of Fontainebleau, founded in 1522 by François I, who entrusted its custody to Guillaume Budé and who instituted the legal deposit in 1537. In 1568, it was again installed in Paris by Charles IX, creator of the guard office of the Cabinet of Medals, where she suffered the vicissitudes of the wars of religion. With the French revolution, the Library became National and then Imperial or Royal Library over the changes of regime that France experienced until stabilization in 1870.
The collections amount to a total number of 15 million books and printed matter (more than 11 million at Tolbiac), including nearly 12,000 incunabula. In addition to printed books, its collections include several million periodicals, counted for 390,000 titles, approximately 250,000 manuscripts, including 2,500 vellums and 10,000 medieval illuminated manuscripts (making it the largest library in the world in this field), maps, prints, photographs, sheet music, coins, medals, sound, video, multimedia, digital or computer documents (33 billion URL addresses), objects and works of art, sets and costumes !
The official Bibliothéque National de France – site François Mitterrand : https://www.bnf.fr/fr/francois-mitterrand
The Paris tourist office on the BnF-site François Mitterrand : https://parisjetaime.com/eng/culture/bibliotheque-nationale-de-france-site-francois-mitterrand-p3542
The regional Île de France tourist office on the BnF-site François Mitterrand : https://www.visitparisregion.com/en/bibliotheque-nationale-de-france-site-francois-mitterrand
There you go folks, something different from your regular visits to our beautiful Paris, eternal and well beyond words . It is a nice off the beaten path site to do and see in the eternal city. Again, I hope you have enjoy the post on the Bibliothéque National de France-site François Mitterrand !!! as I.
And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 