The Rare Books Department of the Bibliothèque nationale de France : constitution of a new collection

In the fall of 1997, the "Réserve" (Rare Books Department) of the Bibliothèque nationale de France will be transferred to the new building (Tolbiac site), with the whole stock of printed books and periodicals. At this time, its collections could be augmented with 58 000 volumes, chosen from the Department of Printed Books (Richelieu site). Four main criterions guided this selection : the date, the language, the illustration, and at last, the provenance. This process has been completed by other selections made from specialized bibliographies and catalogues. This important increase will form, in addition to the present collections of the Reserve, a separate one kept at the second floor of the future stacks of the Rare Books Department, one of the six departments which will constitute the Bibliothèque nationale de France, at Tolbiac.
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