Books and people: the birth of the Montpellier Medical School library
Exhibition organized by the Bibliothèque Historique de Médecine
Reopening to mark the 800th anniversary of Montpellier's Faculty of Medicine:
Thursday, October 22 to Saturday, October 31, 2020, 1:00 pm to 5:30 pm
Dates: September 21 to November 9, 2019
Opening hours: Tuesday to Saturday, 1:00 pm to 5:30 pm
Guided tours Saturdays at 3:30 pm starting September 28
Venue: exhibition halls of the Faculty of Medicine, historic building
Poster
Catalog
Des livres et des hommes: naissance de la bibliothèque de l'École de médecine de Montpellier. Exhibition catalog (2019), 56 p. 10 €
Did you know? Montpellier's Faculty of Medicine boasts an encyclopedic library, which is unique in France.
In 2020, Montpellier's Faculty of Medicine celebrates the 800th anniversary of its founding. To mark the occasion, the historic university library of medicine is pulling out all the stops, unveiling some of its most precious books to the public.
These volumes were assembled over the space of a few decades at the turn of the 19thcentury, thanks to the decisive action of enlightened men (Haguenot, Prunelle, Chaptal, Barthez...), who spectacularly enriched the library's collections.
Today, the result is an exceptionally rich heritage: medieval and modern manuscripts, incunabula and other early printed works all come together in a collection remarkable for its diversity and scientific interest. Singularly encyclopedic, it embodies a humanist vision of medical teaching and the "art of healing".
In this exhibition, you'll discover the history of the library, from its initial core, formed by the bequest in 1767 of the personal library of Henri Haguenot, physician and professor of medicine, to its considerable expansion in many fields of knowledge following the French Revolution, at the instigation of Gabriel Prunelle.
2 conferences provided additional insights:
- Pierre-Yves Lacour: "Provincial collections and museums around 1800. From a heritage perspective to an educational one". Thursday, October 10, 6pm.
- Thierry Lavabre-Bertrand: "Le projet pédagogique de la Faculté de médecine de Montpellier au 19esiècle". Tuesday October 22 at 6pm, in the Macabies room, in the historic building of the Faculty of Medicine.
