The Collections: Special databases: French Revolution Documents
Search or browse the French Revolution documents
The most extensive research collection in the Lilly Library concerning the history of continental Europe centers on the French Revolution of 1789. This collection numbers approximately seven thousand pieces and includes all types of printed materials -- journals, polemical pamphlets, and many documents.
The Lilly Library French Revolution document collection indexed on this web site consists of 3362 legal publications and is only a small portion of the library's holdings related to the French Revolution. The documents are mostly royal and administrative acts published in pamphlet form between 1789 and 1799. There are royal edicts, arrets , adresses, declarations, reglements, lettres patentes, rapports, ordonnances, memoires, lois, and various other titled or untitled official documents.
Each document is represented in the file with a record which records the body responsible for issuing the document; the date of the act; the place, printer, and date of printing; the number of pages; French key words; relevant geographical names; and Library of Congress subject headings and assigns an item number.
The item number, responsible body, and date have been combined into one field for searching: the IRD field. The date is given in the form: DDMMYY, i.e. 010789 (1 July 1789). All dates are in the eighteenth century.
The French key word category allows for searching by French words which appear in the text of the documents. The words denote the type of document (i.e. arret, decret, loi) as well as indicate the subject matter of the document.
The Library of Congress subject headings (LCSH) are not necessarily current. They are headings which were current at the time the database was created. Names which are subjects do not include the person's dates. The three most common phrases in the LCSH field are shortened to save space. They are:
- Anc: Assemblee nationale constituante
- Anl: Assemblee nationale legislative
- Cn: Convention nationale
Search by the shortened form in the LCSH field. However, in the IRD field spell out the phrases.
Corporate names in the file do not include the word France, i.e. Conseil d'etat instead of France. Conseil d'etat. There are no diacritics in the entries. To enter the French vocabulary, type in the letters without the diacritics which would normally accompany them.
How to request documents:
To request these documents, combine the collection call number (DC141.A1) with the specific item number.
French Revolution Document Collection call number: DC141.A1
Example:
DC141 .A1 no. 01.007
Search or browse the French Revolution documents
For further information about the French Revolution Document Collection and any related materials contact The Lilly Library, Indiana University, 1200 E. Seventh Street, Bloomington, Indiana 47405. Telephone: (812) 855-2452. Fax: (812) 855-3143. E-mail: liblilly@indiana.edu
