Mazarin Library, Paris, France

The Mazarin Library is located in the Palace of the Institute of France on the Left Bank of the Seine River facing the Louvre Museum in Paris. Named after an Italian cardinal, diplomat, and politician who served as the Chief Minister to the King of France in the 1600s, it started as his own personal collection. Cardinal Mazarin collected art and diamonds as well as books, although there is no jewelry at the library today. It is considered the oldest public library in France, with around 600,000 items. One third of these books are hundreds of years old. Students and ajarns interested in religious and literary history of French in the 1600s and before that time would enjoy visiting this library. It also owns studies about the history of the book and local and regional history of France. Among its treasures is a Gutenberg Bible, the first major book printed with mass-produced movable metal type in Europe. Fewer than fifty copies of this printed bible have survived, so they are considered very valuable, apart from their historic importance. The Mazarin Library also owns many hundreds of beautiful painted books from the Middle Ages, which are known as illuminated manuscripts. They are called illuminated because a secondary meaning of the verb to illuminate means to decorate. When pages of a book are given gold, silver, or colored designs, they become illuminated.

Collection development

As the library’s collection development statistics indicate, its holdings are still increasing. In 2015 it received by gift or exchange over 700 French language monographs, and almost 400 monographs in other languages. It also purchased just over 200 French language monographs and 100 monographs in other languages. Most books that are not in French are in English, German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, ancient Greek, and Latin. Clearly the library relies on generous donations for its ever-growing importance in the world of research and learning. The French Institute which houses the library organizes and manages many societies of learning and scholarship. Apart from the French Academy, which has existed since the 1600s, there are also the Academy of Humanities, Academy of Sciences, Academy of Fine Arts, and Academy of Moral and Political Sciences. In addition it oversees about 1,000 foundations, as well as museums and castles open for visitors. The Institute also gives out prizes and grants on the recommendation of its different academies. Among the library’s exciting current projects is developing a digital library based on materials in its own collection. Only rarely does the Mazarin Library remove a book or document from its collection, its website explains. In those unusual cases, an item may be given to another public institution or exchanged with other public research archives or libraries.

Preserving the past.

Considering the number of old books in its collection, preservation and conservation are key concerns. The Mazarin Library is one of the few French historical libraries, apart from the National Library of France, to have had its own conservation workshop. Using traditional conservation techniques, four art restorers work with a chief conservator. They must first receive professional training in such areas as bookbinding and after working at the National Library for some years, they must pass an examination for art restorers. The workshop contains tools for restoring gold leaf that has worn off of old books. Sometimes manuscripts and old printed books are found to be in such poor condition that they cannot be read or digitized, in which case traditional restoration is called for. Around 150 restorations are done annually. The Mazarin Library’s conservation workshop accepts trainees and welcomes visits from groups of bookbinding and conservation professionals and students. In general, service to readers is a priority, with the staff aiming at providing visitors with requested documents only ten minutes after they have been requested. The library’s director is Yann Sordet, whose official title is chief curator. Professor Sordet, an historian and librarian, wrote a thesis on book collecting in the 1700s. Apart from working in libraries, he has also taught the history of the book and of libraries at the University of Paris XIII and elsewhere.

Thailand and France

As all Thais know, the exchanges between the Kingdom and France are very old, dating back to the 1500s. The Alliance française Bangkok was founded in 1912 and is a center for language studies in French, Thai, and Burmese. There are also classes in fine and applied arts, fashion, dance, and music. Its library contains more than 22,000 items, including 5000 on French language education. In addition to the Alliance française Bangkok, at Lumpini, Pathum Wan, there are other branches in Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, and Phuket.

Encouraging research.

Other French intellectual activity in the Kingdom includes The Research Institute on Contemporary South-East Asia (IRASEC),  based in Bangkok since 2001. Among its subjects of study are economic, social and environmental development in the ASEAN region. Earlier this month, a series of presentations began at the Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University, that will continue through next April. The CSDS-IRASEC Academic Seminar 2016-2017 Societies and Environments in Southeast Asia was co-organized by IRASEC and the Center for Social Development Studies (CSDS), Chulalongkorn University in partnership with Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University; the Regional Center for Social Science and Sustainable Development (RCSD), Chiang Mai University, and the Siamese Association of Sociologists and Anthropologists (SASA). Studying relationships between ASEAN societies and their natural environments, the speakers use an anthropological approach, taking into account contemporary societal challenges. Inspired by the French anthropologist Philippe Descola’s book, Beyond Nature and Culture, which is in the collection of the Thammasat University Libraries, the seminar asks how ASEAN societies think about the Western division between nature and culture.

Another noted French research institute, present in the Kingdom since 1985, is the Research Institute for Development (IRD), offering scientific and technological training to advance social, economic and cultural development. In Thailand the IRD has developed university research projects in health, economic and social sciences, and soil sciences.

Fellowship opportunities.

Younger ajarns in the Kingdom may be interested in an annual junior research fellowship program to help Thai researchers at the start of their careers by giving them the chance to work with French colleagues. Thai post-doctorates who have graduated since 2012 and who currently work as lecturers or researchers in public or private institutions may apply to conduct from two to six months of research in a laboratory in France. All fields of research are acceptable. Only those applicants who will have received a Ph.D. before arriving in France are eligible.

(All images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons).