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La Bibliothèque d'Avignon Microsoft Word version for downloading (25 Kb) The first was formed, as other establishments of the same type, with books from religious organisations removed during the Revolution. These organisations were, in order of bibliographical importance: for Avignon, the Celestines, the Dominicans, the chapter of Notre-Dame des Doms, the Carmelites, the Franciscans, the Doctrinaires, the Recollects, the Oratorians, etc. and, outside of Avignon, the Celestines of Gentilly (at Sorgues), the Carthusians of Bonpas and of Villeneuve-lès-Avignon, the Benedictines from the same town and the Capuchins from Montfavet, etc. There were very few imported books of limited importance. This library, along with the paintings and art objects which had been confiscated, formed a “Museum and literary deposit”, set up in the Gothic abbey of Saint-Martial; its curator being Vincent Meynet (1739-1804), a former canon coadjutor of Saint-Agricol. In Year 12 (1804), the State, which owned the Museum and the literary collection, ceded its use to the Municipality. The Museum and the Library were separated, or, rather, a specific curator was appointed for each one. The librarian was the former canon, André-Guillaume Calvet (1759-1825), who classified the library, catalogued it and opened it to the public in 1806. This library was already very well stocked; it contained 26,451 works, among which were 619 manuscripts, the most precious in the present-day library, including, among others, the illuminated Gospels from Saint-André de Villeneuve, dating from the 9th century; the noted Pontifical from the Papal chapel, donated by Pope John XXII to Notre-Dame des Doms; 14th century missals, in particular, one from Pope Urbain V represented several times in the initial letters; the Livre d'Heures by the Blessed Pierre de Luxembourg; the psalter of Boucicaut, etc. In his will in 1810, Esprit Calvet, doctor-archaeologist, founded the second public library. "Driven by a taste for study and celibacy, I proposed myself, at the age of fifteen, to spend the rest of my days creating a public library, something which was lacking in my country ". The creation of the municipal library did not encourage him to renounce to his intention; but he took care to specify that his books “will never be combined” with those of the Municipal library. His library was "small, but well chosen", - these are his own words; - it contained 1,400 printed works, mainly concerning history, archaeology and ancient letters, with some manuscripts, among which a illuminated Lactance, works signed by Calvet and the large correspondence exchanged between this scholar and the intellectuals of his time. To his library, he attached cabinets containing antiques, coins and natural history objects, which he bequeathed at the same time, along with his entire fortune. In 1826, the Municipal Library and the Calvet Library, which was called the “Calvet Museum”, were combined within one establishment. Since Calvet, a prudent testator, had forbidden any merger detrimental to him, the problem was resolved by, purely and simply, “giving’ the Municipal Library to the Calvet Museum; which explains why the Avignon Library has a very specific make-up, entirely unique in France, as a result of the wishes laid out in Calvet’s will, codified by a ruling drawn up by the Council of State on 19 March 1823 and modified on 26 August 1831 and 7 March 1832. An integral part of the Calvet Museum, it benefits from the quality of being a public body, a status which this institution has enjoyed since it was founded and which allows it to receive donations and bequests directly. It is managed by a Board of Directors, very similar to the Board of Trustees in British libraries. The Avignon trustees are: Since its foundation, the Avignon Library has grown considerably. Today, it contains 85,401 printed works (in this total, large collections, such as the “Documents inédits” or the Guillaume Budé collections, are only counted as being one item) 703 incunabulum, 5,367 manuscripts and 371 collections of engravings. The main collections concern ancient theology, local history, the literature of Provence, art history; the Paul Mariéton library, received in 1921, added a collection of French literature of great importance for the Romantic period. These different collections all contain rare and precious books; printings from Lyons and Paris from the 15th and 16th centuries are particularly abundant. But, the Avignon collection is particularly famous, bibliographically, for its large collection of ancient and modern manuscripts. Apart from the beautiful illuminated volumes, which in the main, we have mentioned above, there are also numerous palaeographic items from the 9th to the 15th centuries, books from the Pontifical library, among others, several works donated by the Popes of Avignon to convents in the town; archive collections belonging to some of the great families of Provence, such as the Porcelet Family from Arles; a collection of autographs of famous people, which is very rich, of great interest and not very well known. Joseph GIRARD, |
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