The Paris Commune of 1871 and the Bibliothèque Nationale

Greenberg, Gerald S.

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/3704 Copy

Description

Title

The Paris Commune of 1871 and the Bibliothèque Nationale

Author(s)

Greenberg, Gerald S.

Issue Date

2007

Keyword(s)

• Libraries and society
• Bibliothèque Nationale

Abstract

During the Paris Commune of 1871, communards assumed responsibility for administration of the Bibliothèque Nationale. On April 1 the Commune appointed Citizen Jules Vincent the library’s supervisor. Three weeks later, the Commune dismissed Vincent when it discovered that he had embezzled 10,000 francs that had been allocated to meet library expenses. Vincent’s behavior had immense consequences for the Commune. This article will examine how Versailles attempted to portray Vincent’s action as symbolic of communard deceit; how it became virtually impossible for the Commune to regain the trust of library managers and employees; and how Elie Reclus, a widely respected humanitarian and academic, was faced with the challenging task of managing the library and protecting its collection during the final five weeks of the Commune’s existence.

Publisher

Johns Hopkins University Press and the Graduate School of Library and Information Science. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

ISSN

0024-2594

Type of Resource

text

Language

en

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http://hdl.handle.net/2142/3704

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2007 Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois.

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