In 1698, the duke de Nevers deeded to Madame de Lambert apart of the building skirting the Rue de Richelieu, toward the Rue Colbert. In 1719, Law purchased for a million francs the whole of the Mazarin palace, together with five structures which had been erected on the Rue Vivienne, and which occupied a part of the site of the cardinal’s gardens. Law entrusted the architect Mollet with the task of transforming the old palace into a suitable building for the accommodation of the royal bank and the Compagnie des Indes; he decided also upon the extension of the gallery parallel to the Rue Vivienne as far as the Rue Colbert. Pellegrini decorated the old apartments which the cardinal had not completed. A specimen of Mollet’s architecture is to be seen in the door on the Rue des Petits-Champs.
Under the Regency the king acquired possession of the building of the Compagnie des Indes and the arrangement of the manuscripts there was begun in 1721. In 1724, the group of structures was formally taken possession of for the royal library, and the architect, Robert de Cotte, was chosen to conduct the work of installation. A building parallel to the Rue de
tions of the convents of Paris and those of the emigres, was opened to the public. Early in the present century these quarters were found to be inadequate to meet the requirements of the library and it was proposed to remove it to the Louvre; but the wars of the Empire delayed the execution of this project. The feasibility of transferring it to the Madeleine was also discussed, and a plan for the remodelling of the church to that end by MM. Pevre and Fontaine obtained much favor, but it was at length abandoned.
Other plans were presented by MM. de Gisors, Visconti, etc.; it was only after a heated debate on the subject in 1845 that it was decided that it should remain where it was. In 1821, under Louis XVIII, those portions of the Mazarin Palace which had continued to be occupied by the Bourse and the Treasury were turned over to the library.
In 1854, M. Henri Labrouste3 was appointed to succeed M. Visconti as architect of the Imperial Library, and it is to him that we are indebted for an edifice worthy, indeed, to shelter all the literary treasures of the old Library of France. M. Labrouste began his labors with the restoration of the
Fig. 12. View of the Reading-room (Salle de Travail) of the National Library, Paris.
Richelieu and another at right angles to it on the Rue Colbert were erected under his directions, as well as a special hall for the globes which Count d’Estrees employed Coronelli to make for Louis XIV, and which Louis XV had deposited in his library in 1722.
In 1741, the royal coins, medals, etc., were removed from Versailles to Paris and arranged in one of the halls of Madame de Lambert’s apartments. This room was embellished with wainscoting, some of the sculptured portions of which, enriched with gilding, framed in paintings by Vanloo, Natoire, Boucher and others.
The Cabinet des Medailles was reached by a stairway in the building at the corner of the Rue Colbert,1 and communicated with the library by means of a vault which spanned the Rue Colbert and traces of which can still be seen on the old building.2
In 1792, the library, which had been enriched by the collec
jNo¥ occupied by the agence des travaux.
2 Consult the “ Essai liistorique sur la biblioih&que du roi,” by Leprince. Edition enlarged by Louis Paris (Paris, 3856); also “ La bibliotheque, ses accroissements et son origineby Mortreuil, Paris, 1878.
H6tel Tubeuf; his plan of enlarging the library was not put in execution until 1859. In 1867 he completed the structures adjoining the Hotel Tubeuf, the rotunda at the corner of the Rue de Richelieu and the Rue des Petits-Champs, a portion of the building skirting the Rue de Richelieu4 and the main magasin and the great Salle de travail of the Departement des Imprimis }
The building fronting on the Place Louvois and the pavilion at the angle of the Rue Colbert were not finished until 1873. Between 1877 and 1889, M. L. Pascal reconstructed the building extending along the Rue Colbert, and at the same time, under his able direction, the structure at the rear of the court of honor, designed by Robert de Cotte, was fully restored and fitted up for the Departement des Manuscrits; the court of honor was definitely laid out, the principal entrance of the library on the Place Louvois was completed, and important alterations were made for the improvement of various services.
3 M. Labrouste bad already constructed the Library Sainte-Genevteve. 4 On the site of the H6tel de Nevers. 5 See the general plan.
Under the Regency the king acquired possession of the building of the Compagnie des Indes and the arrangement of the manuscripts there was begun in 1721. In 1724, the group of structures was formally taken possession of for the royal library, and the architect, Robert de Cotte, was chosen to conduct the work of installation. A building parallel to the Rue de
tions of the convents of Paris and those of the emigres, was opened to the public. Early in the present century these quarters were found to be inadequate to meet the requirements of the library and it was proposed to remove it to the Louvre; but the wars of the Empire delayed the execution of this project. The feasibility of transferring it to the Madeleine was also discussed, and a plan for the remodelling of the church to that end by MM. Pevre and Fontaine obtained much favor, but it was at length abandoned.
Other plans were presented by MM. de Gisors, Visconti, etc.; it was only after a heated debate on the subject in 1845 that it was decided that it should remain where it was. In 1821, under Louis XVIII, those portions of the Mazarin Palace which had continued to be occupied by the Bourse and the Treasury were turned over to the library.
In 1854, M. Henri Labrouste3 was appointed to succeed M. Visconti as architect of the Imperial Library, and it is to him that we are indebted for an edifice worthy, indeed, to shelter all the literary treasures of the old Library of France. M. Labrouste began his labors with the restoration of the
Fig. 12. View of the Reading-room (Salle de Travail) of the National Library, Paris.
Richelieu and another at right angles to it on the Rue Colbert were erected under his directions, as well as a special hall for the globes which Count d’Estrees employed Coronelli to make for Louis XIV, and which Louis XV had deposited in his library in 1722.
In 1741, the royal coins, medals, etc., were removed from Versailles to Paris and arranged in one of the halls of Madame de Lambert’s apartments. This room was embellished with wainscoting, some of the sculptured portions of which, enriched with gilding, framed in paintings by Vanloo, Natoire, Boucher and others.
The Cabinet des Medailles was reached by a stairway in the building at the corner of the Rue Colbert,1 and communicated with the library by means of a vault which spanned the Rue Colbert and traces of which can still be seen on the old building.2
In 1792, the library, which had been enriched by the collec
jNo¥ occupied by the agence des travaux.
2 Consult the “ Essai liistorique sur la biblioih&que du roi,” by Leprince. Edition enlarged by Louis Paris (Paris, 3856); also “ La bibliotheque, ses accroissements et son origineby Mortreuil, Paris, 1878.
H6tel Tubeuf; his plan of enlarging the library was not put in execution until 1859. In 1867 he completed the structures adjoining the Hotel Tubeuf, the rotunda at the corner of the Rue de Richelieu and the Rue des Petits-Champs, a portion of the building skirting the Rue de Richelieu4 and the main magasin and the great Salle de travail of the Departement des Imprimis }
The building fronting on the Place Louvois and the pavilion at the angle of the Rue Colbert were not finished until 1873. Between 1877 and 1889, M. L. Pascal reconstructed the building extending along the Rue Colbert, and at the same time, under his able direction, the structure at the rear of the court of honor, designed by Robert de Cotte, was fully restored and fitted up for the Departement des Manuscrits; the court of honor was definitely laid out, the principal entrance of the library on the Place Louvois was completed, and important alterations were made for the improvement of various services.
3 M. Labrouste bad already constructed the Library Sainte-Genevteve. 4 On the site of the H6tel de Nevers. 5 See the general plan.