The Musée de l'Amérique francophone (Museum of French-Speaking America), formerly the Musée de l'Amérique française, is situated in the

Old Quebec Old Quebec (french: Vieux-Québec) is a historic neighbourhood of Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. Comprising the Upper Town (french: Haute-Ville) and Lower Town (french: Basse-Ville), the area is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Administratively, Old ...

neighbourhood of

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Communauté métrop ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, Canada. It is Canada's oldest museum. Its collection contains books from

Séminaire de Québec The Seminary of Quebec (French: Séminaire de Québec) is a Catholic community of diocesan priests in Quebec City founded by Bishop François de Laval, the first bishop of New France in 1663. History The Séminaire de Québec is a Society of d ...

's library, some of which were published in the 16th century and others which were placed in a restricted section called Enfer ('Hell' in French). It also contains artifacts from Cyprus, paintings, first-edition publications of ''

The Birds of America ''The Birds of America'' is a book by naturalist and painter John James Audubon, containing illustrations of a wide variety of birds of the United States. It was first published as a series in sections between 1827 and 1838, in Edinburgh and ...

'' and ''

Encyclopédie ''Encyclopédie, ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers'' (English: ''Encyclopedia, or a Systematic Dictionary of the Sciences, Arts, and Crafts''), better known as ''Encyclopédie'', was a general encyclopedia publis ...

'', and a recreation of the organ from

Cathedral-Basilica of Notre-Dame de Québec The Cathedral-Basilica of Notre-Dame de Québec ("Our Lady of Quebec City"), located at 16, rue de Buade, Quebec City, Quebec, is the primatial church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Quebec. It is the oldest church in Canada and was the fi ...

. The museum's collection has been managed by the

Musée de la civilisation The Musée de la civilisation, often directly translated in English-language media outside Quebec as the Museum of Civilization, is a museum located in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. It is situated in the historic Old Quebec area near the Saint La ...

since 1995.

History

The museum opened on 22 October 1806 as Musée du Séminaire and is the oldest museum in Canada. In 1993, Musée du Séminaire changed its name to Musée de l'Amérique française. In 1995, the museum became part of the

. In 2013 the museum was renamed to Musée de l'Amérique francophone as part of Musée de la civilisation's campaign to modernise its image.

Facilities

The museum is located beside

. In 1838,

Thomas Baillairgé Thomas Baillairgé (20 December 1791 – 9 February 1859) was both a wood carver and architect, following the tradition of the family. He was the son of François Baillairgé and the grandson of Jean Baillairgé, both men being termed architects u ...

created blueprints for the museum's building, including its round facade. The former chapel, called Chapelle du Musée de l'Amérique francophone, is attached to the building. It is designated as a religious heritage site and now serves as a conference centre and hall. The museum is part of the

complex.

Collection

In 1991, the museum documented about 110,000 pieces in its collection. When the museum opened, it contained objects that helped in science education. The collection also contains coins, stamps, fossils, paintings, statues, prints, books, gold and

silverware Silverware may refer to: * Household silver including **Tableware **Cutlery **Candlesticks *The work of a silversmith * Silverware is also a slang term for a collection of trophies A trophy is a tangible, durable reminder of a specific achieveme ...

. The museum's archives were listed in

Memory of the World Register Memory is the faculty of the mind by which data or information is encoded, stored, and retrieved when needed. It is the retention of information over time for the purpose of influencing future action. If past events could not be remembered, ...

in 2007. Some of the museum's archives and rare books are located at the French America Reference Centre within the museum. The collection includes artifacts from

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...

, with 40 pieces donated by Jean Des Gagniers in 1966 and 60 donated by

Louis-Albert Vachon Louis-Albert Vachon, (February 4, 1912 – September 29, 2006) was a Canadian educator, cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, and Archbishop of Quebec. He became a cardinal on May 25, 1985. History Vachon was born and raised in Saint-F ...

in 1991. The artifacts are from the

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...

to the

Medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

periods and include items made from ceramic materials and a sculpture. The museum has paintings by

Joseph Légaré Joseph Légaré (March 10, 1795 – June 21, 1855) was a painter and glazier, artist, seigneur and political figure in Lower Canada. Early life The eldest son in a family of six children, Joseph Légaré was born in Quebec City, the son of ...

Marc-Aurèle de Foy Suzor-Coté Marc-Aurèle de Foy Suzor-Coté (April 6, 1869 – January 29, 1937) was a French Canadian painter and sculptor. He was one of the first native-born Canadian artists whose works were directly influenced by French Impressionism and Post-Impr ...

and Jean Paul Lemieux. It also contains a four-volume copy of the first edition of ''

'' by

John James Audubon John James Audubon (born Jean-Jacques Rabin; April 26, 1785 – January 27, 1851) was an American self-trained artist, naturalist, and ornithologist. His combined interests in art and ornithology turned into a plan to make a complete pictoria ...

and a copy of ''

''. A copy of the first

book of hours The book of hours is a Christian devotional book used to pray the canonical hours. The use of a book of hours was especially popular in the Middle Ages and as a result, they are the most common type of surviving medieval illuminated manuscrip ...

produced by

Henri III of France Henry III (french: Henri III, né Alexandre Édouard; pl, Henryk Walezy; lt, Henrikas Valua; 19 September 1551 – 2 August 1589) was King of France from 1574 until his assassination in 1589, as well as King of Poland and Grand Duke of Li ...

for his

confraternity A confraternity ( es, cofradía; pt, confraria) is generally a Christian voluntary association of laypeople created for the purpose of promoting special works of Christian charity or piety, and approved by the Church hierarchy. They are most c ...

is also in the museum's collection. In 2009 Juget-Sinclair built a chapel organ for the museum. The organ is a reconstruction of the organ built for the

in 1753, but destroyed in 1759. It was installed on the museum's balcony at the second floor of the building's interior.

''Enfer'' section

In 1964, when

Université Laval Université Laval is a public research university in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The university was founded by royal charter issued by Queen Victoria in 1852, with roots in the founding of the Séminaire de Québec in 1663 by François de Montmo ...

moved to the Quebec City neighbourhood of

Sainte-Foy–Sillery–Cap-Rouge Sainte-Foy–Sillery–Cap-Rouge is a borough of Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The borough was created on November 1, 2009,Inferno Inferno may refer to: * Hell, an afterlife place of suffering * Conflagration, a large uncontrolled fire Film * ''L'Inferno'', a 1911 Italian film * Inferno (1953 film), ''Inferno'' (1953 film), a film noir by Roy Ward Baker * Inferno (1973 fi ...

), to the museum. The collection contains 603

monographs A monograph is a specialist work of writing (in contrast to reference works) or exhibition on a single subject or an aspect of a subject, often by a single author or artist, and usually on a scholarly subject. In library cataloging, ''monograph ...

, mostly printed in the 18th and 19th centuries. About half of the monographs are printed in French, a quarter in English and the remaining in other languages. The collection also contains over 900 leaflets and brochures. These books include texts from the 16th century and the accounts of explorers from the 17th and 18th centuries. Some of the books contain notes written by members of Séminaire de Québec explaining why the book was placed in the Enfer section. Some of the Enfer books contain redactions, erasures, ink stains, and explanations of the book's errors. The collection also contains letters from bishops or religious leaders that reject or grant permission for people to read the Enfer books.

Exhibitions

* ''L'Œuvre du Séminaire de Québec'' * ''Partir sur la route des francophones'' (On the Road: The Francophone Odyssey): an exhibit on the French-speaking people who emigrated from

Acadia Acadia (french: link=no, Acadie) was a colony of New France in northeastern North America which included parts of what are now the Maritime provinces, the Gaspé Peninsula and Maine to the Kennebec River. During much of the 17th and early ...

St. Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connecting ...

, and

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

, to other parts of North America. * ''Révélations, l'art pour comprendre le monde'': a fine arts exhibit, created in 2013 to celebrate Séminaire de Québec’s 350th anniversary.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Musee de l'Amerique francaise Amérique francophone Amérique francophone Old Quebec Ethnographic museums in Canada French Canadian culture Culture of the Americas French-language culture 1806 establishments in Lower Canada Museums established in the 1800s