BnF Richelieu

I've been doing a lot of work recently at yet another branch of the Bibliothèque Nationale, this one right across the street from the Département de la Musique. The complex (which technically includes Musique) is called "BnF Richelieu" after the Rue de Richelieu that runs along the western side of the main building, which is composed of several adjacent, former private mansions. You know it's an important historical building because there's a "Histoire de Paris" marker out front:

That's right, one of Stephen Colbert's ancestors started ye olde Publick Royal Library in 1692. In fact this complex of mansions - which was progressively updated and reconstructed - remained the National Library's main branch until the opening of the Tolbiac site in 1995. The building's shell - both from the street and within the courtyards - looks mainly as it did in the 18th century.

The inside, on the other hand, is a fascinating mish-mash of architecture styles, owing to the many remodels the library underwent over the years.


That last room on the right is the Galerie Mazarine, an original 17th-century room with temporary walls, ceiling lighting, and furniture - it's housing the Département des Arts du Spectacle (where I've been working) through 2014 while another part of the building is renovated yet again. (Not pictured: the epic reading rooms called Salle Ovale and Salle Labrouste.)

In case you're following my sporadic research updates, I've been working at Richelieu because the Département des Arts du Spectacle contains literature on French dance and theater history. I'm reading up on the Ballets Suédois, a group of (you guessed it) Swedish performers who dazzled Paris with a series of provocative, modernist, total-art events. Apparently some guy had nothing better to do in the early 20th century than spend all his time collecting 800,000 pieces of press documents, programs, and other literature on all the performance arts. He donated everything to the BN, and I'm currently the beneficiary. (Thank you, Auguste Rondel!)

If you're not a researcher and happen to walk by the Richelieu complex, you might miss the purpose of this fairly vanilla, non-descript building. That's why the library has built a subtle, delicate reminder into a gate on the Rue des Petits-Champs, just outside the southern courtyard.

Now you know what to look for, should you ever come visit!