Geographic Treasures of the Society of Geography at the Bibliothèque nationale de France

Abu Simbel, African horse riders, Japanese SamouraÎ, impressive trees ... Discover at the BnF's Gallery of Photography, photographs from the famous Society of Geography. A testimony to the state of the world and its upheavals in the 19th century, but also the passion for inventory embedded in scholars geographers of the 19th century. A unique collection to see again and again.

The Society of Geography was founded in 1821 in Paris by 217 personalities that made up the scholarly elite of the time. Its establishment and its ambitions are in keeping with a vast enterprise of knowledge and discovery in the world.
The booming of photography, contemporary to the exploration great movement of the second half of the 19th century, makes it possible to refresh the imagination of the Western world for the unknown. Lonely travelers, scientific expeditions, religious, civil or military missions brought back the first images from regions and peoples hitherto ignored to Westerners.

The photographic collections of the Society of Geography, exceptional by their originality, their diversity and remarkable consistency, are a unic source for the history of travels and discoveries in the 19th century and in the first half of the 20thcentury. Spontaneously gathered and then, from 1881, collected and combined into a single fund under the leadership of the librarian James Jackson, these photographs come from foreign and french members but also outside correspondents of the Society: soldiers, diplomats, engineers, explorers and travelers it sponsored.

Geographic Treasures of the Society of Geography
Exhibition from September 18th to December 16th, 2007

Bibliothèque nationale de France
http://expositions.bnf.fr/socgeo/index.htm
site Richelieu – Galerie de photographie
58, rue de Richelieu, 75002 Paris

Metro : Lines 3 (Bourse),1 and 7 (Palais-Royal), 7 and 14 (Pyramides)
Bus : 20, 29, 39, 67, 74 , 85

Open from Tuesday to Saturday (10.00am to 7.00pm) and Sunday (12.00pm to 7.00pm) except Monday
Exhibition Full rate 7 € Reduced rate 5 €