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Michigan State University

Primary Resources for French Studies: Gallica

This is a guide for finding primary sources about France/the French, including Special Collections' French Monarchy Collection. Last updated 06-26-2023

Gallica

GALLICA is a database of some 70,000 French texts and 80,000 images created by the Bibliotheque Nationale de France, chosen from its own and other French collections. Contains literature, history, science, philosophy, law, economic and political science materials. Some 1250 of the works can be word searched within the texts.

Gallica (English language interface)

Gallica 2 is one of the largest digital libraries available online for free. It comes from the Bibliotheque Nationale de France, the French national library. It serves as an encyclopaedic and cultural heritage library and offers the public a wide range of thematic bodies of knowledge centered on History, Literature, Sciences, Philosophy, Law, Economics and Political Science. Gallica focuses primarily on works about France, in the French language, and published in France. However, it also offers foreign-language classics either in original or translated version. Gallica offers 12 thematic multimedia files that stand for new discovery opportunities, from « Gallica classique », launched in March 1999, to a recent one, « France in America ». This collection of periodicals, images and sound recordings can be used by all Internet users, from enthusiasts to book-lovers, from secondary school learners to academic users.