At the Val-de-Grâce - Three Centuries at the Heart of the Libraries

At the heart of the 5th arrondissement of Paris, placed at the centre of attention — from the royal Benedictine abbey to the École du Val-de-Grâce — the library and its collections have always been a source of pride for their users. In a setting of stone and greenery, they offer conditions conducive to study, research and reflection. Open to all, they are as much oriented towards the past as towards the present and future of the Army Health Service.
The authors offer an unprecedented immersion that allows the reader to plunge into more than three centuries of history. From the personal books of Anne of Austria and the nuns to the most recent medical and paramedical publications, they reveal not only the history but also the behind-the-scenes story of the premises, the staff and the great donors. In doing so, they take their place in the essential challenge that every generation must meet: the preservation, transmission and enhancement of a heritage.
This richly illustrated work, featuring previously unpublished documents, sheds new light on the world of libraries from the Ancien Régime to the present day. It is the result of an investigation in which the authors had to cross-reference information from archives, catalogues, correspondence and inventories, as well as the traces left on the documents themselves — the unica and their distinctive features: coats of arms, old shelf marks, stamps, labels, ex-libris and manuscript annotations.