France collage (c) RLSpang 2006
essential resources for French history
Rebecca L Spang--Indiana University, History Dept © 2007

Gallica--digital library project at the Bibliothèque Nationale, over 70,000 volumes and 80,000 images, including full text of the revolutionary Archives Parlementaires and many revolutionary pamphlets, as well as classic French literature, utopian writings, travel writings, photo collections, nineteenth-century postcards etc. etc. And they add more every month! Some English translations, though the bulk of the work is in French. In addition, there is a small digital library of texts relevant for the history of science and technology at the Conservatoire Nationale des Arts et Métiers which includes good material on the expositions universelles. See also the Bibliothèque Municipale de Lyon. Depending on the text you need, it is also well worth consulting Marxists.org (which, most ecumenically, includes texts by 'utopian' socialists and non-Marxist revolutionaries, as well--and, most nearly everything is in English) and/or the History of Economic Thought archive.

Archives Nationales--links from here to what many historians would consider to be the 'main' site of the French National Archives, the Centre Historiques des Archives Nationales in Paris, as well as to Centre des Archives Contemporaines (Fontainebleau) and the Centre des Archives d'Outre-Mer (Aix-en-Provence). Some inventories and other finding aids are available on-line; others can be found in the France room of the Institute for Historical Research (Senate House, Malet Street, London). Remember, too, that not all archival materials for French history are in France: Calonne's papers, for instance, are in the National Archives (formerly known as the PRO) as are other sources relevant for the history of the Revolutionary era; many other resources may be available within Great Britain, as well. Despite France's vaunted centralization, many other archives also hold important collections; see, for instance, the Archives de l'Assistance Publique (Paris) or the Service Historique de l'Armée de la Terre (Vincennes).

Bibliothèque Nationale de France--virtual exhibitions, practical information, picture bank, on-line catalogue, etc. Of course, the British Library also has extraordinary holdings of French materials, and it doesn't require readers to reserve a seat in advance!

Bibliothèque de documentation internationale contemporaine (Nanterre)--essential for any research topic in twentieth-century history.

Archives Départementales--this page is part of a genealogy website; it conveniently provides links to two or three pages about each of the 95 metropolitan departmental archives and the nine 'overseas' ones.

Archives Diplomatiques--at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, quai d'Orsay, Paris; includes all the papers from the French protectorate of Morocco and Tunisia, as well as diplomatic and political correspondence, consular papers, and materials related to the running of the Ministry itself. On-line exhibitions are not extensive, but interesting.

Society for French Historical Studies and Western Society for French History (North America)--primarily of interest for the on-line conference programs, which give a good snapshot of work currently being done in French history; the SFHS's fiftieth anniversary meeting in Paris, 2004, is a particularly interesting programme since there were so many French participants. The Society for the Study of French History (UK) hosts similar, but smaller, conferences.

H-France--listserv devoted to (mainly modern) French history; most discussions are in English, and the list publishes several lengthy book reviews every week, in affiliation with French Historical Studies.

FYI France, print libraries--extensive guide to libraries in the French metropole, though nothing on overseas France.

The Louvre, the Musée d'Orsay, and the Château de Versailles all have extensive websites; if you want to find other museum sites, try the Réunion des musées nationaux.

Académie Française--not the most extensive site, but nonetheless of potential interest; see also the Institut de France.

Institut d'Histoire de la Révolution française (Paris)--there are a few sources and documents available here, but the site is mainly of interest for the insights it provides on the institutionalization of the Revolution; see also the Annales historiques de la révolution française.

Institut d'histoire du Temps Présent (Paris)--from the 1930s to now, the 'present times' have a history!

Drapeau Rouge--lyrics and music for revolutionary songs, from the Carmagnole to the IWW's 'The Girl Question' and beyond.

The Image of France--an index of all the printed imagery authorized for publication in France, 1811-1831; slightly frustrating, because the images themselves are not included, but it does indicate what was legally availble.

Though not specific to French history, alone, many of the UCL Library's digital resources (databases, electronic journals) are very helpful for projects in French history. I don't know how we lived without JSTOR (and Ingenta and Muse provide access to recently published articles in many more journals); ECCO (Eighteenth-century Collections On-line) has digitized a large section of the British Library's eighteenth-century holdings (including some translations of French texts); Francis indexes many journals published in languages other than English (1984-present).