The Bibliothèque de Genève (BGE, English: Geneva Library, Library of Geneva), founded in 1559, was known as ''Bibliothèque publique et universitaire'' (BPU, English: Public and University Library) from 1907 to 2006. It occupies different buildings around the city: the main site in Parc des Bastions, the Musée Voltaire, and the . It also manages the library in Villa La Grange. It focuses on the humanities and the social sciences with special emphasis on the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

, the Enlightenment and ''Genevensia'' (i.e. anything published in Geneva or whose author or subject is connected to

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Situa ...

History

Geneva has one of the oldest

legal deposit Legal deposit is a legal requirement that a person or group submit copies of their publications to a repository, usually a library. The number of copies required varies from country to country. Typically, the national library is the primary reposi ...

systems in the world, dating from 1539, with all Genevan publications originally being deposited with a ''Chambre des comptes''.

John Calvin John Calvin (; frm, Jehan Cauvin; french: link=no, Jean Calvin ; 10 July 150927 May 1564) was a French theologian, pastor and reformer in Geneva during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system ...

created the library twenty years later to serve the

Académie An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, f ...

in what is now

Collège Calvin The Collège Calvin, formerly the Collège de Genève, is the oldest public secondary school in Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded in 1559 by John Calvin. History On February 24, 1428, the ''Conseil Général'' of Geneva decided to establish ...

. The earliest mention of the library goes back to 1562.History of the Bibliothèque de Genève
/ref> In 1720, the Genevan theologian Ami Lullin acquired the Petau collection of illuminated manuscripts and left it to the library in 1756. In 1872, the library moved to its current building in Parc des Bastions alongside Uni Bastions. The Institut et Musée Voltaire was founded in 1954, Geneva's music library, now called La Musicale, in 1962, and the Centre d'iconographie in 1993. In 1999, the library was added to the

Swiss Inventory of Cultural Property of National and Regional Significance #REDIRECT Swiss Inventory of Cultural Property of National and Regional Significance {{R from other capitalisation ...

. In 2011, its

Jean-Jacques Rousseau Jean-Jacques Rousseau (, ; 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment throughout Europe, as well as aspects of the French Revolu ...

collections were included, jointly with those of the , in the Unesco Memory of the World Register.

The main site (Bastions)

Books

In 2014, there were more that two million print volumes in the library's collections. Since the 20th century, the library has focused on the humanities and social sciences. Many of its

incunable In the history of printing, an incunable or incunabulum (plural incunables or incunabula, respectively), is a book, pamphlet, or broadside that was printed in the earliest stages of printing in Europe, up to the year 1500. Incunabula were pro ...

and other early modern books are available on e-rara.ch.

Manuscripts

As well as 1,500 papyri and 380 medieval manuscripts, the Bibliothèque de Genève holds the papers of such Geneva personalities as

, Horace-Bénédict de Saussure,

Édouard Naville Henri Édouard Naville (14 June 1844 – 17 October 1926) was a Swiss archaeologist, Egyptologist and Biblical scholar. Born in Geneva, he studied at the University of Geneva, King's College, London, and the Universities of Bonn, Paris, an ...

, Emile Jaques-Dalcroze and

Nicolas Bouvier Nicolas Bouvier (6 March 1929 in Lancy – 17 February 1998) was a 20th-century Swiss traveller, writer, picture editor and photographer. He studied in Geneva in the 1950s and lived there later between his travels. Life Bouvier was born at Gr ...

. Some of these manuscripts are available o
e-codices.ch
;See also File:Annotations de Florus de Lyon, fol. 16v.jpg, Annotation by

Florus of Lyon Florus of Lyon ( la, Florus Lugdunensis), a deacon in Lyon, was an ecclesiastical writer in the first half of the ninth century. A theologian, canonist, liturgist, and poet, he ran the scriptorium at Lyons. He was considered one of the foremost auth ...

on St Augustine (BGE, Ms. lat. 16, f.16v) File:Silvestro de' Gherarducci - Gradual from Santa Maria degli Angeli (Folio 32v) - WGA08673.jpg, Silvestro dei Gherarducci, St Agnes in an initial M, f.32 of the Gradual from Santa Maria degli Angeli File:Unknown painter - Charles VI Talking to Pierre Salmon - WGA15883.jpg, Pierre le Fruitier, called Salmon, ''Traictés de Pierre Salemon a Charles VI roy de France'' ialogues, second version(BGE, Ms. fr. 165, f.4r) File:Bibliothèque de Genève, Ms. fr. 160 Brunetto-Latini Trésor.jpg,

Brunetto Latini Brunetto Latini (who signed his name ''Burnectus Latinus'' in Latin and ''Burnecto Latino'' in Italian; –1294) was an Italian philosopher, scholar, notary, politician and statesman. Life Brunetto Latini was born in Florence in 1220 to a Tusc ...

's ''Tesoro'', illuminated by the Master of the Rouen Échevinage (BGE, Ms. fr. 160, f.82r) File:JeanneDeJussie-Mss-BE.jpg, Jeanne de Jussie's manuscript of ''The Short Chronicle'' (BGE, Ms. Suppl. 1453)

Maps

The map collection was begun in 1893, when the Genevan cartographer , who drew most of the maps for

Élisée Reclus Jacques Élisée Reclus (; 15 March 18304 July 1905) was a French geographer, writer and anarchist. He produced his 19-volume masterwork, ''La Nouvelle Géographie universelle, la terre et les hommes'' ("Universal Geography"), over a period of ...

's ''Nouvelle Géographie universelle'', gave approximately 7,000 items to the library. It now has about 45,000 maps, dating from the 16th to the mid-20th century. Maps of the city and canton of Geneva are kept at the Centre d'iconographie. The evolution of Geneva over the centuries can be seen on th
GE200.ch
website using some of these maps.

Posters

The library began collecting posters in 1851 and now has about 130,000. The collection documents life in Geneva, focusing on advertising, culture, social life, tourism and politics, including the struggles of the 1930s and protests from the 1960s and 1970s.

Musée Voltaire

The Musée Voltaire, previously known as the ''Institut et Musée Voltaire'', is both a museum and a library devoted to Voltaire and the 18th century. It is located on Geneva's right bank, in the Délices area. The museum has works by

Jean Huber Jean Huber (13 February 1721 – 21 August 1786) was a Swiss painter, silhouettiste, soldier and author, who was a citizen of the Republic of Geneva. Biography Huber was born in Chambésy (part of Pregny-Chambésy) to Jacob Huber, a member of th ...

Jean-Antoine Houdon Jean-Antoine Houdon (; 20 March 1741 – 15 July 1828) was a French neoclassical sculptor. Houdon is famous for his portrait busts and statues of philosophers, inventors and political figures of the Enlightenment. Houdon's subjects included De ...

Hans Erni Hans Erni (February 21, 1909 – March 21, 2015) was a Swiss graphic designer, painter, illustrator, engraver and sculptor. Born in Lucerne, the third of eight siblings, to a cabin cruiser engineer, he studied art at the Académie Julian in Par ...

and others. The library has a significant number of manuscripts and 22,000 volumes, to be read in the reading room (not for loan).

La Musicale

La Musicale, previously known as the ''Bibliothèque musicale de la ville de Genève'', is Geneva's specialist music library, open to all. It is located near the

Conservatoire A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger ins ...

, the Victoria Hall and the Grand Théâtre, on the first floor of the Maison des arts du Grütli. It has about 50,000 music scores (classical, jazz, rock, world music...), as well as relevant books and journals, and posters and concert programmes going back to the 19th century.

Centre d'iconographie

The Centre d'iconographie, previously known as the ''Centre d'iconographie de la ville de Genève'' or CIG, is an archive of about 4 million images, primarily of the city and canton of Geneva and the surrounding area, though not exclusively. It includes, for example, photos by the Genevan photographer

Frédéric Boissonnas François-Frédéric Boissonnas (18 June 1858 – 17 October 1946), known as Fred Boissonnas, was a Swiss photographer from Geneva. His work is considered crucial for the development of photography in Greece, and its use in favourably publicis ...

of the Balkans, Greece and North Africa. It is located near the Boulevard du Pont-d'Arve. Its collections are included in the

Swiss Inventory of Cultural Property of National and Regional Significance #REDIRECT Swiss Inventory of Cultural Property of National and Regional Significance {{R from other capitalisation ...

Bibliothèque La Grange

Geneve la Grange 2011-09-12 13 40 36 PICT4700

The private library of Guillaume Favre (1770-1851) contains about 5,600 works, in over 12,000 volumes, on history, literature and ancient languages, still in their original setting in

Parc La Grange The Parc La Grange is an urban park in the city of Geneva, Switzerland. The city park is located south of Lake Geneva at the Quai Gustave-Ador in Geneva. It has a surface of 200,000 m2 and hosts very old and tall trees, Geneva's biggest ros ...

. They may be consulted in the main Bastions site of the Bibliothèque de Genève. Tours of the library are held each year in May.Bibliothèque La Grange collections
/ref>