About the Institut d'histoire du livre

Since the 15th century, Lyon has been one of the principal centres for printing and the book in Europe: a fact to which the extraordinarily rich collections of the city's Municipal library and Printing museum bear witness. Today, the tradition continues with the existence of an extensive network of research and teaching institutions in the city.

The creation of the Institut d'histoire du livre in Lyons in 2001 brought together the City library and Printing museum, with three "grandes écoles": the École normale supérieure, lettres et sciences humaines (ENS-LSH), which opened its doors in Lyons in 2000, and whose researchers are particularly active in the fields of philosophy, linguistics and literature; the École nationale supérieure des sciences de l'information et des bibliothèques (Villeurbanne), which is responsible for the training of library curators in France; and the École nationale des chartes (Paris).

The Institut d'histoire du livre places the emphasis on a comparative approach to the study of cultural and intellectual exchanges. It's role is to offer an interdisciplinary framework for research, not only in book history, but also in the various connected fields involved in the study of graphic communications such as the history of technology, economic history, art history, sociology, anthropology, linguistics and information science.

It also aims to promote Lyons' cultural heritage on an international level, notably through training in the conservation and study of heritage collections in the field of print culture and the development of on-line resources aimed at bringing the collections of the city's museums and libraries to the attention of a broad public.