[14528] in Public-Access_Computer_Systems_Forum
FYI France: Book history, EcChartes & Inst.Hist.Livre
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Jack Kessler)
Wed Oct 16 20:02:51 2002
Date: Tue, 15 Oct 2002 10:41:10 -0700
From: Jack Kessler <kessler@WELL.COM>
To: PACS-L@LISTSERV.UH.EDU
Reply-to: Public-Access Computer Systems Forum <PACS-L@LISTSERV.UH.EDU>
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FYI France: History of The Book resources -- at the Ecole des
Chartes (Paris), and the Institut d'Histoire du Livre (Lyon) --
plus, a Hugo Bonus!
Two sets of very useful online data resources have been mounted,
and are being maintained and expanded, at the Institut d'Histoire
du Livre and the Ecole des Chartes:
The IHL offers,
* "Itine'raire du Livre" -- a database of museums of the book in
Europe
http://ihl.enssib.fr/icl/icl-interro/icl_interro.htm
"The Itine'raire du Livre database offers, to anyone with
interests in the history of the book and of graphics techniques,
an entre'e into the collections of over 150 museums of the book
in Europe.
"One can find here museums of the book, of printing, and of
paper, but also libraries offering permanent and temporary
exhibitions to the public, workshops which are open to the
public, and even a certain number of semi - private resources
which only may be seen by appointment. Each institution is
represented by an entry giving its address, a short description
of the establishment (type of resource, date of creation, size,
conditions for access), and a profile of its collections
(manuscripts, books, machinery and tools, rare items, exceptional
pieces...).
"To build this database, the partners in the project -- the
Consortium of European Research Libraries / CERL, the Ecole
Nationale Supe'rieure des Sciences de l'Information et de la
Bibliothe`que / ENSSIB, and the Insitut d'Histoire du Livre / IHL
-- sent a questionnaire to some 450 museums, libraries, and other
sites in Europe where specialists and non - specialists are able
to study the European book patrimony. The initial percentage of
responses was very encouraging -- around 30% -- and the database
continues to grow.
"At the same time, the Itine'raire Culturel du Livre is calling
upon the expertise of numerous European specialists for the
development of additional regional, national and international
'itine'raires'. A first such itine'raire already exists for the
region of Emilia - Romagna in Italy, and others are under
development in Spain, in France, and in Great Britain."
And also, from the IHL,
* Ressources en histoire du livre sur le web / Book history on
the web
http://ihl.enssib.fr/7_outils/surweb_fr.html (in French)
http://ihl.enssib.fr/7_outils/surweb_eng.html (in English)
"Query our database of 500 links, to Web sites which deal with
the history of the book, of writing, and of graphics techniques."
A fascinating typology: among the "history of the book" resources
which they have listed on here -- you'll never dream there are so
many possibilities -- are the following,
archives,
professional associations,
workshops,
bibliographic databases,
iconographic databases,
bibliographies,
book libraries,
exhibitions,
digital libraries,
research centers,
resource centers,
dictionaries,
schools,
econferences,
writers' homes,
paper mills,
and museums, virtual museums, private presses, epublishers,
historic industrial sites, learned societies, and "cities of
books"... a panoply, and possibly the "full" one...
And the renowned Ecole des Chartes recently announced,
* Histoire du livre -- a database of library sale catalogs in the
modern era, currently held in Parisian libraries
http://www.enc.sorbonne.fr/cataloguevente/
"Book sale catalogs are an essential resource for the study of
private libraries ; their use must be accompanied with a certain
number of methodological precautions, presented during
conferences for which the proceedings have been published in
'Etudes et rencontres de l'Ecole des chartes'.
"Book auctions first appeared toward the end of the 16th century
in the Netherlands, and developed in Paris during the first years
of the 18th century -- at the same time as the rare book trade
was being organized, and the fashion for collecting rare books
first appeared. The sale catalogs have essentially a commercial
significance ; the point is to attract the attention of the book
lover or merchant who often is located far from the premises, and
to attract him to the auction.
"These documents could be included in the Catalogue Collectif de
France / CCF, and in the catalog of the Bibliothe`que nationale
de France, but their bibliographic records are short and often
incomplete, notably on two points, the status of the owner and
the particular characteristics of the item: mentions of the
price, names of buyers, lists of accompanying manuscripts... More
complete cataloging, including information of this type, was
assembled for the collections of the Bibliothe`que nationale de
France from its origins until 1750 by Franc,oise Ble'chet ; for
the subsequent period up to 1770, the inventory is being done by
Nicole Masson, who is professor at the Universite' de Poitiers.
We would point out, also, the database of the Institut d'histoire
du livre / IHL which shows 344 sale catalogs held by the
bibliothe`ques municipales of Lyon and of Grenoble.
"It is against this background that the Ecole des chartes
undertook, in 1998, a union catalog of book sale catalogs, from
prior to the 19th century, held by Parisian libraries other than
the Bibliothe`que nationale de France. The records, developed by
students in the third - year course on the history of the book
and of libraries, are presented on the site once they have been
checked. The 200 sale catalogs of the Bibliothe`que Sainte
Genevie`ve are included, as well as the 20 catalogs held by the
Bibliothe`que de Fels of the Institut Catholique -- work on the
275 catalogs of the Bibliothe`que de l'Institut is under way. To
this collection was added, in 2002, the 5 catalogs held in the
fonds ancien of the Bibliothe`que de l'Ecole des Chartes."
-- also, at the Ecole des Chartes,
* Histoire du livre -- a database of prints held by the library
of the Ecole
http://www.enc.sorbonne.fr/estampes/
"The prints collection of the Ecole des Chartes was established
to support courses on the printed image, which are part of the
study of the history of the book. The collection is the result of
gifts and purchases made by Henri - Jean Martin and other
professors of the Ecole.
"700 original prints from the 15th to the 20th centuries,
conserved in seven containers and three moving cases, are made
available to professors and students to provide a first contact
with the engraved image. All of the techniques of engraving are
represented, from the oldest (wood - block and copper - plate) up
to the lithographic and photo - mechanical processes of the 19th
century, including certain technical experiments in color
engraving of the 18th century.
"Most of the pieces in the collection were engraved for books.
16th and 17th century titles are well - represented, and 18th
century themes form the greatest part of the collection (over 200
pieces). In addition, the collection includes some original
prints, notably the works of Claude Melland and of Jacques
Callot, and some reproductions. In large formats, several
beautiful engravings done for the King, notably on architectural
things, ought to be mentioned; one can find complete works among
these, for example 'les Grandes Conque^tes de Louis le grand'
engraved by Se'bastien Leclerc and Louis de Cha^tillon."
and,
* Ecole des Chartes, The`ses des e'le`ves 2001-1997
http://www.enc.sorbonne.fr/theses.htm
Real French theses, on these history of the book etc. subjects,
now easily available for online reading everywhere: the magic --
sometimes... often... -- of French academic prose -- i.e.,
"Catherine d'Amboise (1481-1550), dame de Lignie`res,
prosatrice et poe'tesse de la premie`re moitie' du XVIe
sie`cle, reste inconnue du grand public et peu connue du
public lettre'..."
Many are in online fulltext -- not all, yet, but presumably this
is a work - in progress -- currently back to several from 1999...
And finally, a "bonus":
* Victor Hugo 2002 ! --
http://www.victorhugo2002.culture.fr/
An outstanding site, "Conscience et Combats, 1802 - 2002", including:
** "Hugo au fil de temps" --
1802 - 1822 The Years of Youth,
1822 - 1830 The Romantic Revolution,
1830 - 1851 The Political Awakening,
1851 - 1870 The Years of Exile,
1870 - 1885 The Living Myth
Fascinating texts, sumptuously illustrated -- sure glad,
though, that _I_ am not a "living myth"... rough life...
** "Les Lieux Hugoliens" --
Besanc,on, la ville natale
Paris --with an interactive map leading to Parisian sites
associated with Hugo -- and their detailed descriptions,
accompanied by images;
L'Europe -- Belgium, Jersey, Guernsey, Luxembourg --
again with online documentation, including one of the
wonderful drawings which he would put into his letters --
written from Brussels - with - Juliette - Drouet, to his
wife, before he wrote "Napole'on le petit" and decided
that Jersey might be a little safer...
** "L'Entourage" -- the characters in the plot -- the friends,
the contemporaries, the family -- portraits, and biographical
sketches, of each;
** "Archives Originales" --
"les liberte's de l'e'crivain" -- the writing life of
Victor Hugo -- documentation in images, with detailed
descriptions, of the life of the poet;
"comment un poe`te entre en politique" -- "how a poet
gets into politics" -- the political life of Hugo, again
in images with descriptions;
"la famille Bonaparte" -- the ups, and the downs, of
communing with kings;
"le combat contre la peine de mort et pour le respect de
l'autre" -- the Death Penalty, and Respect for Others,
favorite Hugo issues -- to be read by Americans, perhaps...
"Les Mise`res" -- Hugo and poverty, and injustice, and
cruelty, and suffering... -- "A son of the French
Revolution, Victor Hugo remained so undeniably by choice:
he pushed for the realization of the ideas of e'galite'
and of fraternite' throughout his era, which was one of
the industrialization and mechanization which alienate
humankind, and which rely upon the exploitation of the hand
labor of women and children."
And there is even, for children and / or the non - deadly -
serious,
"Jouez avec Hugo" -- "10 Questions about Victor Hugo...
for kids..."
So, useful and interesting and sometimes very beautiful viewing
and reading, from the French...
--oOo--
FYI France (sm)(tm) e-journal ISSN 1071 - 5916
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