Bibliothèque Mazarine
The Bibliothèque Mazarine in Paris ( 6th arrondissement ) is France's oldest public library. Taking into account the testamentary disposition of their founder, the French cardinal and minister of Italian descent, Jules Mazarin (1602-1661) it was opened in 1691 in the east wing of the three years previously completed according to the plans of Louis Le Vau Collège des Quatre Nations ( 1662-1688 ) and the audience made accessible.
The establishment of the Collèges also went back to the initiative of the Cardinal, who wished there to find his final resting place. Since 1805 it is the seat of the 1795 founded, previously residing in the Louvre Institut de France, in addition to the public " Bibliothèque Mazarine " there is also the " Bibliothèque de l'Institut " managed, the use of which is reserved for members of the five academies and recognized researchers. Is entertaining Bibliothèque Mazarine with funds from the budget of the French Ministry of Education.
Stock
The Bibliothèque Mazarine has approximately 400,000 works, mostly from the period from the Middle Ages until the 18th century, including numerous manuscripts, 2370 incunabula and a rarity beyond compare: the most precious two volumes of around 1452/54 in Mainz in an edition of about 180 copies printed the Gutenberg Bible (42 -line Bible ), of which only 48 have survived worldwide. Due to the storage location of this copy is known as the "Bible Mazarine ". Also noteworthy are the wonderfully ornate book covers, under which many show the personal emblems of the Cardinal: fasces, the ax, three stars and a cardinal's hat.
The stock goes back to the exceptionally rich personal collection of rare books of the bibliophile Cardinal Mazarin. This was due to the need to go during the Fronde of the Princes in 1651, and in 1652 into exile, lost his since 1643 with the help of the librarian Gabriel Naudé ( 1600-1653 ) compiled the first collection, which was already scientists and men of letters available. With Naudé's successor François de la Poterie he built the library in the Palais Mazarin (now the Bibliothèque nationale de France, Rue Richelieu) again and determined to preserve them before but repeated distraction, on March 6, 1661, three days before his death, the future " Collège de France " for the repository of rare books and their elaborate bindings.
As was explained during the French Revolution, the " Collège des Quatre -Nations " to the " Collège de l' Unité " and then alternately used as a prison, home of the " Comité de Salut Public" (The Welfare Committee ), " École Centrale Supérieure " and École des Beaux Arts served, the library not only remained intact, but their inventory was completed by works, which had been confiscated in noble palaces and monasteries.
Reading room
The reading room has a capacity of 140 seats in the incomparable setting of the authentic library of Mazarin, whose cabinets are like the book covers decorated with the emblems of the Cardinal. The windows offer a unique view of the Seine and the Pont des Arts, with the sublime facade of the Louvre in the background.
Librarians and directors of the Bibliothèque Mazarine
First Bibliothèque Mazarine (private collection of Cardinal Mazarin ):
- Gabriel Naudé (up to 1653), founder of the library in Mazarin's city palace of the Rue Richelieu
- François de la Poterie
Bibliothèque Mazarine in the Collège des Quatre Nations
- Charles de Palissot Montenoy (from about 1797)
- Jean Augustin Amar Durivier (from 1803)
- Charles Marie de Dorimond Féletz (1809-1849)
- Joseph Naudet (up to 1848), Director, his successor will Sainte -Beuve
- Charles Augustin Sainte -Beuve (1840-1848)
- Jean -Jacques Ampère
- Charles -Victor Daremberg replaced amperes after he resigned
- Armand d' Artois (1884-1912)
- Pierre Gasnault ( around 1986 )
- Christian Péligry ( around 2004 )
- Isabelle de Conihout ( circa 2006 )