Treasures from the Bibliothèque municipale de Lyon

The collections of the Lyon Municipal Library reflect several centuries of meetings, discussions, reflection, opposition and reconciliation. The three million documents which have gradually converged to the stacks tell stories without number which are our history.

From 20 May to 23 August 2014, the Library will be dipping into its coffers and invites you to come and contemplate a few nuggets chosen from among its most wonderful items. Speaking several languages, coming from the most diverse horizons, they have patiently crossed centuries and borders to converge on us. The Treasures! exhibition is a unique opportunity to embark on their exploration.

This exhibition aims at paying tribute to the diversity of the eras, topics and materials kept at the Lyon Municipal Library. The Greek θήκη / thêkê gave rise to the French word for library “bibliothèque” meaning “coffer for books”. From these coffers, which were opened for the occasion, 83 items are presented. All of them come from the Library's vast collection comprising over three million documents. Any choice is subjective. We have not attempted to establish a complete picture of the heritage collections of the Lyon Municipal Library; rather, each treasure offers itself as a particular example to visitors from here and elsewhere, leaving them to imagine the rest of the collection.

Whether modest or prestigious, whether they affect us strongly or leave us indifferent, these items are emblematic of the abundance and eclecticism of works in all forms and all languages conserved here and coming to Lyon, some over a millennium ago, and others in recent months. They also reveal the variety of ways in which items are acquired: historical happenstance, the conviction of a decision-maker, the passion of a collector, the advice of a patron or the foresight of a librarian.

Each item thus enriches all the collections by its uniqueness: the part and the whole shed new light on each other, making the Library itself a shared treasure.

Lyon has been at the crossroads of European exchanges since Antiquity. Its collections are like a river with tributaries as numerous as they are unexpected, having patiently carried along a multitude of treasures of which the Municipal Library is now the custodian: manuscripts, maps, extremely rare printed documents, sumptuously bound tomes, engravings, photographs, and even improbable objects …

Exhibition

20 May – 23 August 2014
Part-Dieu Library - Bibliothèque municipale de Lyon
La Galerie
30 boulevard Vivier-Merle Lyon 3e

Opening hours

Tuesday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Free admission

Access

30 boulevard Vivier-Merle 69003 Lyon
2 entrances : Cuirassiers access / Vivier-Merle access
métro : line B, Part-Dieu station
tramway : T1 & T3, Vivier-Merle stop
bus : C1, C2, C6, C7, C9, C13, C25, 25, 37, 38, 70, 198, 296, Part-Dieu stop
vélo’v : Cuirassiers - corner of Rue Bouchut
Vivier Merle: behind the tram station
Part-Dieu / SNCF railway station

SOURCE: Bibliothèque municipale de Lyon