Heritage. The reserve of old books of the silos opened exceptionally its doors on Tuesday April 15 for a privileged moment. For this first “meeting in reserve”, Bruno Briquez, conservation manager, looked at the theme of the tree.
Since the reopening of silos at the end of February, the media library has swarmed with entertainment. But a place remains apart: the reserve of old books. To allow the Chaumontais to access its exceptional documents, the silos have decided to open its doors. Tuesday at the end of the day, ten Chaumontais participated in this first “meeting in reserve”.
Bruno Briquez, conservation manager of ancient books, guided them to the fourth floor to discover nearly twenty works dedicated to the theme “with my tree”. In the cramped space, you had to be careful where to set foot and especially not touch the books. But in this intimate atmosphere, to approach such objects, for some coming straight from the 16th century, was a privilege.
“The advantage of these meetings is that you can take the time to turn the pages. »»
This visit was an opportunity to approach the importance of trees for man’s life, both for the construction of homes and tools and for the elevation of his mind through books. And the examples are multiple in the face of visitors: a parchment with a family tree, prints, engravings, botanical books, travel accounts … The opportunity to make some historical reminders on the creation of the classification of trees (called taxonomy) or on the introduction of exotic species on our continent. “Most botany books are in black and white with line drawings. It was not made for aesthetics, these are pragmatic tools, ”explains Bruno Briquez.
Representations of baobabs, fruits, pines and plants of all kinds are registered on the pages of the books presented. “The advantage of these meetings, unlike an exhibition, is that we can take the time to turn the pages,” says the conservation manager by leafing through “the general history of drugs”, a work dating from 1694.
A visit to redo
This visit enchanted the participants who did not hesitate to question the specialist on the books presented, but also on the conservation conditions or the history of the creation of this reserve. Faced with demand, the services of silos plan to organize a second round of this event on the same theme. Otherwise, go to Tuesday, June 17 for a visit to the theme of music.
Chloé Frelat
