Photo : Archives Nationales
Prints and Men - New Research Perspectives - Third Cycle
Discover the hidden stories behind printing and typography during this deep dive into French archival heritage. Whether you are a design enthusiast or a history buff, these talks offer a fascinating perspective on how books and presses have shaped the way we record our national journey.
About
Since 2025, the National Archives, the Bibliothèque Forney, the École Estienne, and the University of Paris 8 have launched a series of conferences on the history of printing in France.
The goal is to highlight new research advancements, made possible particularly by a better understanding of the sources preserved and enriched in documentary institutions, or by the renewal of researchers' perspectives on clandestine prints during wartime, the role of women in printing, typographic creation, and the production and trade of typographic materials.
The conferences, aimed at amateurs, students, and professionals alike, are preceded by an update on the partner institutions' news regarding the history of printing in France.
Program for the second semester of 2026
Conference: The national narrative put into books, from the voluminous Michelet to the small Lavisse by Jean-Charles Geslot.
This conference proposes to explore the great diversity of forms taken by printed works on the History of France, from multi-volume monuments to summaries, manuals, and posters, as well as the technical and symbolic challenges of these different formats.
Jean-Charles Geslot is an Associate Professor (HDR) in contemporary history and Deputy Director of the Center for Cultural History of Contemporary Societies (CHCSC) at the University of Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines.
Thursday, October 15, 6 pm-8 pm – National Archives - Center for Reception and Research of the National Archives (CARAN) - Albâtre room, 11 rue des Quatre-Fils, 75003 Paris
Free admission subject to availability. Registration recommended at: bibliotheque.archives-nationales@culture.gouv.fr
-
Conference: The National Printing Office from 1870 to 1910 by Gwladys Longeard.
The Imprimerie Nationale is a prestigious institution, among the largest printing houses in the world, founded in 1640 and attached to the service of ministries and central administrations, for which it is, by law, the exclusive printer. However, its detractors are numerous and question both its operation and its monopoly: between 1870 and 1910, it was therefore subject to fierce attacks. It is necessary to ask how a state printing office functioned at the end of the 19th century, in order to see how it managed the constraints weighing upon it and the advantages it derived from its public establishment status. This conference proposes to show how much "la Nationale" constitutes a unique case in the history of printing. Furthermore, it allows for an inquiry into the place of a state printing office in the context of economic liberalism at the end of the 19th century: the Imprimerie Nationale is indeed one of the first experiences of public industrial management. Why did the state choose to intervene directly, through its printing office, in industrial activity, social life, and also cultural production?
Gwladys Longeard, a graduate of the École des Chartes and the National Heritage Institute, is the director of the Departmental Archives of Côtes d’Armor
Tuesday, November 24, 6 pm-8 pm - National Archives - Center for Reception and Research of the National Archives (CARAN) - Albâtre room, 11 rue des Quatre-Fils, 75003 Paris
Free admission subject to availability. Registration recommended at: bibliotheque.archives-nationales@culture.gouv.fr
-
Conference on the book La peinture en lettres by Morgane Côme, sign painter and researcher, published by L'Echappée editions
Thursday, December 10, 2026, 7:30 pm-9 pm - Bibliothèque Forney - by registration, see dedicated page on this site.
-
