The , commonly abbreviated with the acronym BHVP, is a

public library A public library is a library, most often a lending library, that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also Civil servic ...

specializing in the history of the city of

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, France. Formerly in the Hôtel Saint-Fargeau (now part of the

Musée Carnavalet The Musée Carnavalet () in Paris is dedicated to the History of Paris, history of the city. The museum occupies two neighboring mansions: the Hôtel Carnavalet and the former Hôtel Le Peletier de Saint Fargeau. On the advice of Baron Haussmann, ...

), when it was also known as the Bibliothèque Saint-Fargeau,Maurice Block (1905). ''Dictionnaire de l'administration française'', Volume 1, p. 355 (entry no. 95)
since 1969 the BHVP has been located in the Hôtel d'Angoulême Lamoignon at 24 rue Pavée, in the

Marais Marais (, meaning "marsh") may refer to: People * Marais (given name) * Marais (surname) Other uses * Le Marais, historic district of Paris * Théâtre du Marais, the name of several theatres and theatrical troupes in Paris, France * Marais (com ...

(4th arrondissement) in Paris. The old city library was located in the Paris Hôtel de Ville (city hall), which fire destroyed in May 1871. In 1872, pursuant to a bequest by Jules Cousin (1830 - 1899), the city moved to create a library devoted entirely to the history of the capital: the . The BHVP collection brings together documents dating from the 16th century through the present on the history of Paris and the

Île-de-France The Île-de-France (; ; ) is the most populous of the eighteen regions of France, with an official estimated population of 12,271,794 residents on 1 January 2023. Centered on the capital Paris, it is located in the north-central part of the cou ...

region. The BHVP is open to the public, allowing access to approximately one million books and booklets, 21,000 manuscripts, as well as plans, maps, and photographs that cover a variety of aspects of Paris including topographic, historic, social, artistic, literary, etc. The BHVP is one of the specialized libraries integrated into the network of Paris municipal libraries, and houses the city's historical research service. The public access to its garden named Hôtel-Lamoignon - Mark Ashton garden is located at 25,

rue des Francs-Bourgeois The Rue des Francs-Bourgeois () is one of the longer streets in the Marais district of Paris, France. Starting near the Centre Georges Pompidou (Rue Rambuteau), the road is considered trendy, with numerous fashion boutiques. The Rue des Francs- ...

References

External links

Presentation and history of the BHVP on ''paris.fr''
(in French)
On-line catalogue of the BHVP
(in French) {{DEFAULTSORT:Bibliotheque historique de la ville de Paris Public libraries in France Libraries in Paris 1872 establishments in France Libraries established in 1872