Hours: Vary by day and location; see website for details.
Location: There are seven sites across France, four of which are in Paris. The central site is the site François-Mitterrand, located on the Quai François Mauriac (13th arrondissement, Metro: Bibliothèque François Mitterrand or Quai de la Gare). The second key site in Paris is the site Richelieu-Louvois, located at 5, rue de Vivienne (2nd arrondissement, Metro: Bourse).
Access: Open to the public, although presentation of ID is required and researchers must purchase a reading card (€3.50 per day, or an annual membership).
Website address: http://www.bnf.fr
The Bibliothèque Nationale de France (BNF) is an excellent source of material for Francophone researchers. Many of its collections are freely available online and are searchable and downloadable. One of the library’s strengths is its impressive collection of historical journals, including national periodicals such as the Bulletin de l’Académie nationale de médecine (1836–2000), Institut de médecine tropicale du service de santé des armées (1976–2012), Bulletin officiel de l’Office national d’hygiène sociale (1790–1942), and the Annales de médecine légale, de criminologie et de police scientifique (1923–1937).
Public health periodicals are a strength at the BNF. They include La Médecine sociale: Bulletin du Syndicat national de médecine sociale (1909–1914), Le Mouvement sanitaire (1924–1937), and Les Cahiers de la santé publique (1928–1941).
Journals with a surgical emphasis include the Comptes rendus des séances de la Société de médecine et de chirurgie pratiques de Montpellier (1881–1890s), Bulletin de la Société de médecine et de chirurgie de la Rochelle (1899–1914), Annales cliniques ou Essais et cas de médecine-pratique, de chirurgie et de chimie pharmaceutique (1818–1820), and Lyon chirurgical: publiant le bulletin de la Société de chirurgie de Lyon (1908–1941).
Veterinary and agricultural journals include the Revue de botanique appliquée et d’agriculture coloniale: bulletin du Laboratoire d’agronomie coloniale (1921–1945), Bulletin de la Société centrale de médecine vétérinaire (1864–1927), Journal d’agriculture, de médecine et des sciences accessoires (1824–1829), Mémoires de la Société centrale de médecine veterinaire (1852–1882), and the Journal des progrès des sciences zooïatriques et de médecine comparée (1836).
Additional assorted but noteworthy periodicals include La médecine nouvelle (1889–1911), Nice-médical (1876–1901), Gazette médicale de Lyon (1849–1868), Journal de la Section de médecine de la Société académique du départment de la Loire-inférieure (1825–1866), and the Bulletin de la Société anatomique de Nantes (1876–1890).
The midwifery periodical La Sage-femme (1897–1937) might be of particular interests to researchers, along with French statistical records which date back to 1801.
The BNF is also home to rare medical manuscripts from the 14th–19th centuries, including treatises, recipes, and other collections in French, German, and Latin, as well as a wide array of free, downloadable images.
In addition there is a host of other publications, including letters, memoirs, books, conference proceedings, lectures, and smaller journals on a wide range of topics, including surgery, anatomy, hygiene, cholera, typhus, and influenza epidemics, veterinary medicine, mental health, pharmacology, homeopathy and healing waters from the 18th century onwards. The BNF has also compiled extensive thematic bibliographies which are available to researchers on-site.