Francis I and his Library at Château de Blois

This year France commemorates the 500-year anniversary of one of its more significant kings, Francis I. Together with Bibliothèque national de France the Château de Blois has mounted an exhibition of his library in its original surroundings

The Château de Blois is one of the finest castles in the Loire Valley and a must-see for any cultural traveler visiting this part of France. Its history dates back to the 13^th century but elements of Renaissance architecture are most prominent. This is mainly due to Francis I, who on the behest of his wife began an extensive refurbishing of the castle in 1515. Part of this was also the organization and expansion and of the massive library there. Already his predecessor had reunited the family collection of the Orléons’, the collection of Charles VIII’s from Amboise and the books seized from the Visconti-Sforza library during the Italian campaigns of 1499 and 1500. This was expanded upon by Francis. Accrding to an inventory from1518 1,626 manuscripts and printed volumes belonged to the collection. Apart from religious texts, hunting manuals and medieval romances a number of classical texts in Latin were listed. During his reign, Francis added a number of volumes in Greek and Hebrew.

However, after her death in 1524, Francis moved to the Château de Fontainebleau and with him (in 1544) went the library. At that point nearly 1900 volumes were listed in an inventory. To this should be added the personal library of the King, which was unfortunately never inventoried. Later these collections were incorporated in the Bibliothèque nationale de France.

This year, however, his first library has been reconstructed. For the very first time since the 16^th century, the most valuable books from the collection of Francis I have been brought together again. With a selection of other art objects the 140 books and manuscripts witness to the immense importance of the book culture of his time.

The Collection

Among the exceptional works presented here are:

• Les Grandes heures d’Anne de Bretagne with illuminations by Jean Bourdichon
• Les Heures de Louis de Laval illuminated by Jean Colombe
• An embroidered Renaissance Book binding
• The Robert Estienne Bible printed in 1540
• The 9^th century Charlemgane Gospels with a binding made for Francis I.

Some of the exhibited books have never been shown publicly before.

The exhibition has been organized around the provenience of the books. Thus the books inherited from his parents and grandparents are shown apart, while those, which belonged to the king’s private cabinet, have been kept apart.

The three rooms show examples of the

• The Angoulême Inheritance
  Here is shown books, which belonged to his parents and grandparents, but also books used in the upbringing of the future king of France, Francis I.
• The Royal Library at Blois. This collection consisted of volumes acquired by his ancestors, former kings of France.
• The Kings Personal Library
• The confiscated books, which belonged to the Bourbon Family
• The Italian Library
• The Humanist library with Greek and Orientalist books and manuscripts
• The King’s private cabinet

The Library

Around 1500 the library at Blois occupied a room between the dry moat and the courtyard, where now the Gaston d’Orléans wing is found. The room was furnished with two fireplaces at each end with manuscripts and books laid out on wooden planks placed one on top of the other. Little cupboards held the most precious volumes.

Surviving contemporary descriptions suggest the way, the library in Blois was organized. A contemporary described it thus:

“In the castle, or rather Palace, we saw a library consisting of a sizeable room not only furnished with shelves from end to end but also lined with book-cases from floor to ceiling, and literally packed with books – to say nothing of those put away in chests in an inner room. These books are all of parchment, handwritten in beautiful lettering and bound in silk of various colours, with elaborate locks and clasps of silver gilt”. (Travel Journal of Antonio de Beatis, 1517, p. 133.)

The curators have sought to recreate this atmosphere by using colours from the illuminated opening page of the Paraphrase d’Erasme sur l’Evangile saint-Matthieu (BnF, Mss., Français 934), by the Parisian painter Noël Bellemare.

VISIT:

Trésors Royaux: La bibliothèque de François I^er
Château de Blois
04.07.2015 – 18.10.2015

VISIT MORE:

Francis I King of France 1515 – 2015
Exhibition in Paris and general presentation of the anniversary

The Century of Francis I
Exhibition at Domaine de Chantilly
07.09.2015 – 07.12.2015

CATALOGUE:

Trésors royaux – La bibliothèque de François Ier
Ed. by Maxence Hermant
Presses universitaires de Rennes 2015
ISBN/EAN – 9782753541856

 

 

 

FEATURED PHOTO:

 

Les Grandes heures d’Anne de Bretagne, illuminated at Tours circa 1508 by Jean Bourdichon for the Queen, Anne of Brittany– BnF, Manuscrits, Latin 9474 © BnF