Biblioteque Cujas on Cujas Street, Paris

Cujas Library (french: Bibliothèque Cujas), named after the French jurist and scholar

Jacques Cujas Jacques Cujas (or Cujacius) (Toulouse, 1522 – Bourges, 4 October 1590) was a French legal expert. He was prominent among the legal humanists or ''mos gallicus'' school, which sought to abandon the work of the medieval Commentators and conce ...

(1520–1590), is an academic research library, and the largest law library in Europe.Oswald, Godfrey (2008). '' Library world records'' (2nd ed.) McFarland & Company, p. 97. It is located in the

Latin Quarter The Latin Quarter of Paris (french: Quartier latin, ) is an area in the 5th and the 6th arrondissements of Paris. It is situated on the left bank of the Seine, around the Sorbonne. Known for its student life, lively atmosphere, and bistros ...

, next to the

Panthéon The Panthéon (, from the Classical Greek word , , ' empleto all the gods') is a monument in the 5th arrondissement of Paris, France. It stands in the Latin Quarter, atop the , in the centre of the , which was named after it. The edifice was b ...

and

Sainte-Geneviève Library Sainte-Geneviève Library (french: link=no, Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève) is a public and university library located at 10, place du Panthéon, across the square from the Panthéon, in the 5th arrondissement of Paris. It is based on the ...

, in the

5th arrondissement of Paris The 5th arrondissement of Paris (''Ve arrondissement'') is one of the 20 Arrondissements of Paris, arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, this arrondissement is referred to as ''le cinquième''. The arrondissement, als ...

History

Cujas Library was originally the library of the Law School of the University of Paris (which dates back to 1215). The collections of the library were dispersed during the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

. Consequently the current collections have been built since 1829 only. From 1876 to 1914, Paul Viollet, head librarian, dedicated much effort to developing the library’s collections. At that time, the library was located in the main building of the Law School of Paris, on the

Place du Panthéon The Place du Panthéon ( las dy pɑ̃teɔ̃ is a square in the 5th arrondissement of Paris, France. Located in the Latin Quarter, it is named after and surrounds the Panthéon. Rue Soufflot, west of the Place du Panthéon, runs towards Bouleva ...

. In 1958, a new building was opened to house the Library. In 1970, the University of Paris was split into several universities. The former Law School library became an inter-university library. In 1978, the library took the name of Cujas Library. Since 1979, Cujas Library has been operating under the supervision of Panthéon-Assas University and Pantheon-Sorbonne University.

Privileges

Access to the library is mainly for scholars, Panthéon-Assas University and Panthéon-Sorbonne University 3rd-year undergraduates and postgraduates, and other universities' students (LLM and PhD students), and people with special interests in law, economics, and political sciences.

Collections

The library is specialized in law, since it has been and still is a major reference and research library in legal studies. But Economics and Political Sciences are also targeted for acquisitions. The library holds 750,000 items, including all Panthéon-Sorbonne University and Panthéon-Assas University legal dissertations and some doctoral dissertations from other universities. It is also a European Documentation Centre and has official documents by the United Nations and its committees from 1948 to 2010. Documents from the League of Nations, from the International Labour Organization and from the International Labour Office (journals) are also present. There is a significant rare book collection and reading room (french: salle du patrimoine) whose items have been acquired over the years. Cujas Library has a partnership with the French National Library (french:

Bibliothèque nationale de France The Bibliothèque nationale de France (, 'National Library of France'; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites known respectively as ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national repository ...

), as far as projects in the field of Law are concerned, especially in preservation and digitization.

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Law libraries Libraries in Paris University of Paris Buildings of the University of Paris Buildings and structures in the 5th arrondissement of Paris Academic libraries in France