“There are books on all subjects.” Discovering the 40,000 documents from the old collection of the University of Poitiers

The University of Poitiers is home to a real treasure: an ancient collection with 40,000 documents dating from before the 20th century. Remarkable collections accessible to all.

There are around 40 000 documents which are kept in the old funds of the University of Poitiers. Remarkable collections which bring together thousands of works and celebrate their fifty years this year.

The University’s thousands of documents date from the 16th to the 19th century and concern many fields, as explained by Anne-Sophie Traineau-Durozoy, head of the remarkable collections at the University of Poitiers. : « There are books on all subjects, mainly books on law, economics, science and particularly botany and medicine as well as works on religious sciences and Christianity. »

We are particularly vigilant about temperature, humidity and light entry.

Anne-Sophie Traineau-Durozoy

Responsible for the remarkable collections of the University of Poitiers

Two kilometers of shelves house these precious items and strict precautions are taken for their conservation: « We are particularly vigilant about the temperature, the hygrometry which must be stable, and the entry of light. The rooms are plunged into darkness when we are not there,” adds Anne-Sophie Traineau-Durozoy.

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To watch over this treasure, six people work here. They are responsible in particular for the conservation and digitization of documents. And what may surprise you is that the general public can consult this exceptional collection. Myriam Marcil is the director of the common documentation service at the University of Poitiers : « Here, we preserve and conserve a heritage accessible to all. All you have to do is contact the librarians, explain what you want to consult and the people responsible for communicating the documents will look for the works stored in specific conservation conditions and then they are offered to readers who can consult them while respecting some precautions to avoid damaging them. »

Here, we preserve and conserve a heritage accessible to all.

Myriam Marcil

Director of the common documentation service of the University of Poitiers

Report by François Bombard and Nicolas Ferro :

And on the occasion of the fifty years of these remarkable collections, two days of study will be devoted to it at the beginning of April.