Bibliothèque Marmottan

The bibliothèque Marmottan, located in Boulogne-Billancourt, is a public library bequeathed in 1932 to the Académie des Beaux-Arts by its founder Paul Marmottan.

Dedicated to the First French Empire and open to readers interested in this period, it contains some 25,000 books and periodicals, making it one of the largest Napoleonic libraries in the world.^[1]

While it regularly hosts scholars in residence, it will also, from 2023, have three apartments for artists whose work will be presented in the exhibition rooms.

Historical background[edit]

Shortly after the death of his father, Jules Marmottan (1829–1883), a wealthy director of the Bruay mining company, the young Paul decided to devote himself entirely to his passion for Napoleon and the French Empire. In 1882, he owned a private mansion in Paris, now the Musée Marmottan Monet, and a few years later he acquired a plot of land in Boulogne-Billancourt.

The house he had built there soon became his study library. From 1890 to 1920, Paul Marmottan gathered there all the works he had collected during his research and travels throughout Europe, many of which were useful for his studies on the Napoleonic period. In addition to this unique collection, he also enhanced the building with a large number of paintings, furniture and decorative objects in the Empire style and acquired nearly six thousand period prints.

Paul Marmottan thus turned his home into a small villa in praise not so much of Napoleon himself as of the taste and art of living developed under his reign.

Bequeathed to the Académie des beaux-arts in 1932, Paul Marmottan's house in Boulogne became the Bibliothèque Marmottan.

The first librarian was Paul Fleuriot de Langle (1897–1968), Paul Marmottan's secretary, who established an initial classification of the books and wrote a guide to the collection that is still an authoritative reference Paul Fleuriot de Langle, Bibliothèque Marmottan, guide analytique, Boulogne-sur-Seine, bibliothèque Marmottan, impr. Frazier-Soye, Paris, 1938, XVII-329 p.</ref>.

After his retirement, the library was neglected for several years before the Académie des beaux-arts appointed the art historian Bruno Foucart (1938-2018)^[2] as its scientific director in 1968. Foucart, who was in charge until the early 2010s, set up a regular purchasing programme and greatly expanded the collection devoted to the history of art in the first half of the 19th century.

In 1996, after major restoration and expansion work, the Académie des beaux-arts delegated the management of the bibliothèque Marmottan to the municipality of Boulogne-Billancourt^[3]. Now fitted with an auditorium that can host conferences and concerts, and more open to the public, the library is known for several exhibitions on the Napoleonic era, including "Tapis d'Empire" (2003), "Les Clémences de Napoléon" (2004) or, more recently, "Jeux d'Empire"^[4] (2017) and "De Joséphone à Eugénie : l'éventail au XIXe siècle"^[5] (2018).

The management delegation to the city of Boulogne-Billancourt ended in 2018, and the library has since been closed to the public due to a new renovation. Since October 2020, it has been directed by the art historian and member of the Académie des beaux-arts Adrien Goetz^[6].

Following the wishes of its founder Paul Marmottan, who wanted the library to benefit the development of historical studies, and at the instigation of its director Adrien Goetz, the Académie des beaux-arts decided to convert the former gatekeeper's house into apartments for scholars.

At the same time, the establishment is in accordance with the new policy of the Académie des beaux-arts, which aims to support creation through residencies^[7]: three flats and as many workshops are planned for artists in the garden pavilion.

The library, the exhibition spaces, the auditorium and its cultural programme, and the residences for scholars and artists thus form the new Villa Marmottan.

The collections[edit]

With some 25,000 books and periodicals, some of which are very rare, the vast majority of the bibliothèque Marmottan's collections are devoted to the First French Empire, which makes it, according to Bruno Foucart, "the largest Napoleonic library in Europe". While all aspects of the First French Empire are represented, books relating to its administration and administrators are undoubtedly one of the strong points of the collection Paul Fleuriot de Langle, Notice sur la Bibliothèque napoléonienne Paul Marmottan et son fondateur (1856-1932), Boulogne-sur-Seine, 19, rue Salomon Reinach, [unknown date], p. 25.</ref>.

The history of the arts under the Empire and, more generally, thanks to the acquisition policy led by Bruno Foucart, that of the entire first half of the 19th century, constitutes the other dominant part of the collections. A section on the history and architecture of Paris has been expanded over the years, following the work of Paul Marmottan, a founding member of the Commission du Vieux Paris. Lastly, another precious documentation, more than a hundred academic works on the Napoleonic period (master's and doctoral theses) are kept in the library.

Since 1984, the bibliothèque Marmottan has been partially listed as a historical monument^[8] and was awarded the "Maison des Illustres" label in 2012.^[9]

References[edit]

External links[edit]

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