Originally, this property was an integral part of the Benedictine priory of Saint-Pierre and Saint-Paul, founded at the end of the 11th century. After the Revolution, the property was divided in two. Part of the garden and the abbey dwelling were purchased by the Foucques d'Emonville family. The land was then completely redeveloped into a vast English garden which served to satisfy the passion of its last owner, Arthur Foucques d'Emonville, for horticulture and botany.
In 1861, Mr. D'Emonville built a mansion in the heart of his garden. He called on the architect Hector Lefuel, who had just completed the work on the Louvre. Lefuel here reinterprets the codes of ancient architecture. In 1880, when Arthur d'Emonville died, his heirs ceded the property to the town of Abbeville. The Hôtel d'Emonville will then successively house the museum of Abbeville and Ponthieu, the town hall of the Occupation in 1960, then the municipal library. Since 1994, the building now houses the archives and the heritage library of Abbeville, in the heart of a two-hectare pleasure garden.
Three centuries of history of written and graphic heritage...
- 1643, the origins:
- The first municipal library of Abbeville, was founded in August 1643, by Jean de Boulenois, principal of the college, who offers all of his personal library to the aldermen. But it was the legacy of another clergyman, Charles Sanson, parish priest of Saint-Georges, which enabled the creation, in 1685, of the first public library.
- In 1718, the bequest of Doctor François Dargnies facilitated the purchase of premises on the main rue Notre-Dame. Throughout the 18th century, important donations, mainly made up of books of theology and jurisprudence, enriched the first deposits.
- Revolutionary period, a nuanced observation:
- During the Revolution, the library fund was transferred to the college dormitories; it rubs shoulders with works confiscated from religious establishments and emigrants. A considerable number of books coming mainly from the abbeys of Valloires and Saint-Riquier, from the convent of the minims of Abbeville and from certain religious houses of the district will come to increase the municipal collections.
- At the same time, while certain laws tend to ensure the preservation of local archives (of November 5, 1790, February 12, 1792 and July 22, 1793), other laws (notably those of June 24, 1792 and of July 17, 1793) were enacted in reaction to the old regime and resulted in the destruction of genealogical or nobility titles, constitutive or recognized titles of feudal rights, old charters, etc.
- At Abbeville, major burnings of municipal archives taken from the collections of the town hall took place on the Place d'Armes in August and December 1793.
- 19th century, the increase collections:
- In 1821, the collections, which had been moved in 1816 to the hall of arms of the town hall, saw their space expand to the entire front floor. It is in this original setting that the library took off, under the attentive and fervent guidance of librarians and archivists such as François-César Louandre, Alcius Ledieu, Henri de Florival, Marcel Godet, etc.
- From the second half of the 19th century until the 20th century, considerable donations flowed in, multiplying the funds by four. Let us quote the important collections of MM. Cordier, Morel de Campennelle, Tillette de Clermont Tonnerre, Riencourt, Ricquier, Anvin de Hardenthun, Prarond, Vayson, Macqueron, Crusel...
- The purchase by the municipality, in 1880, of the Hôtel d'Émonville and its outbuildings, allowed the opening in 1885 of a new library rue des Capucins on the site of the former stables and outbuildings of the private mansion. In 1890, it had 32,000 volumes.
- 1940, the destruction:
- The terrible bombings of May 20, 1940 saw the destruction of almost all of the city's old archives. These were being evacuated when the incendiary bombs fell, destroying the town hall and the trucks filled with their precious cargo.
- On June 4, 1940, an explosive bomb destroyed the central part of the library - rue des Capucins, making the building impassable. The book collections, which have suffered relatively little, are evacuated.
- The library reopened to the public on 1 January 1943. In 1946, it was transferred to 11 rue des rapporteurs, in an 18th century private mansion. This temporary, uncomfortable and cramped premises opened its doors on June 29, 1946. It housed the library for nearly 20 years.
- From 1965, the Hôtel d'Émonville:
- In October 1960, the completion of the new town hall and the departure of municipal services from the Hôtel d'Émonville enabled the restoration and finalization of the development work to accommodate the library. The transfer of the collections took place in May 1964 and the new library opened its doors on January 5, 1965.
- The creation, in 1985, of an annex in the shopping arcade of the hyper-u shopping center (today Jacques Darras media library) and the construction, in 1995, of the Robert Mallet library, 6 rue des Capucins, saw the transfer of open access books to the adult and youth sections.
- Today, the Hôtel d'Émonville houses the heritage and local collections of the municipal library, which contains more than 160,000 documents.
- 2012, creation of the archive service:
- In April 2012, the city of Abbeville created an archive service in order to meet legal obligations regarding the preservation of archives public, for the sake of transparency, access to documents and heritage enhancement.
- The service is located at the Hôtel d'Émonville with the heritage library. The archives that escaped the bombardments of May 20, 1940 can be consulted in the shared reading room on the ground floor. Contemporary archives are the subject of a vast mastery plan which will make it possible to identify the documents that must be kept for legal and/or historical reasons.
- A few figures:
- 800 m² of reserves where the collections built up since the 17th century are protected.
- More than 40,000 graphic documents including the famous Oswald Macqueron collection.
- 4.5 km of shelving housing archives, books and graphic documents.
- More than 160,000 documents that you can consult within the Hôtel d'Émonville.
- 2 km of more recent archives are also kept on the various sites of the municipality.
- The collections:
- The manuscripts: The Émonville library currently has 972 manuscripts. The most valuable, the Gospels of Saint-Riquier, is also one of the rarest manuscripts in Europe. It is part of a very restricted group of ceremonial church books belonging to the first palatine school, located in Aix-la-Chapelle, which developed at the end of the 8th and the beginning of the 9th century under the impulse of the Emperor Charlemagne. This manuscript on purple vellum, written in gold letters, was produced between 780 and 800. It was offered in the year 800 by Charlemagne to Angilbert, his adviser, then count-abbot of the abbey of Saint-Riquier. Among the illuminated manuscripts, in addition to the many books of hours from the 14th and 15th centuries, let us mention the Gospel of Saint-Vulfran, acquired at the end of the 15th century by the canons during the construction of the collegiate church, remarkable for the finesse of the gold of its frames and the freshness of the colors of the illuminations. Other handwritten documents also enrich the local history, such as the Lefebvre du Grosriez genealogical manuscripts, the Waignart armorial, the correspondence of the butcher of Perthes, the documents bequeathed by Ernest Prarond, etc.
- Printed matter: The library has more than 75,000 printed volumes. The fund of old prints are distinguished by 54 incunabula, the most precious of which for Abbeville are those printed in this city by Pierre Gérard: the rural sum of Jean Boutillier (1486) and the two volumes of the city of God of Saint-Augustin (1486 and 1487). Alongside these first witnesses of the typographical art, let us mention the painful anguishes which proceed from love (1538), the first sentimental novel of French literature, written by the Abbevilloise Marguerite Briet, under her pen name: Hélisenne de Crenne. Let us also note a famous work in the history of the book, the dream of Poliphyle (Paris: Kerver, 1546) illustrated with remarkable woodcuts. Many other editions from the 16th to the 18th century bear the name of known printers: Alde, Simon de Colines, Estienne, Barbin... Literature, history, geography, fine arts, theology are the themes most represented in the collections but the evocation of important donations, in particular in the 19th century, makes it possible to highlight ornithological works (don Duchesne de Lamotte); botany (gift Tillette de Clermont-Tonnerre); entomology (donation Lefébure de Cerisy); of heraldry (gift of Riencourt), etc.
- Precious bindings: The library contains bindings of great interest: there are volumes bound for Louis XII, for Henri III and many emblazoned bindings bearing the arms of Louis XIV, Louis XV, Cardinal Richelieu, Trudaine, Barillon d'Amoncourt, Paul Pétau, etc.
- Iconographic collections: The Oswald and Henri Macqueron collection, devoted mainly to the monumental heritage of the Somme department, retraces the past which comes to life through 15,000 watercolours, drawings, engravings, maps and plans. The 8 albums of the Delignières de Saint-Amand and Bommy collection concerning Abbeville and its surroundings bring together original watercolors and drawings executed at the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century. The collection of local postcards is supplemented by the important Robert Mallet collection of nearly 11,000 postcards on the First World War. The Marius Martin bequest brings together etchings, woodcuts, drawings, watercolors and various studies in pencil, ink and wash. Part of the donation paints a delicate portrait of Abbeville during World War I, when the artist stayed in the city. Important acquisitions of photographic documents complete the contemporary history of Abbeville.
- Periodicals: The collection of periodicals includes 640 titles, including local newspapers since their origin. Among them the memorial of Abbeville, the Abbevillois, the pilot of the Somme, the newspaper of Abbeville, the Picard mail, etc. Note the almanacs and directories including those of Abbeville and the department of the Somme.
- The local collection: The local collection brings together the documents that deal in one way or another with Abbeville and its region. The library increases its local collection by purchasing documents relating to the geographical area in question, on any type of medium: books, periodicals, thematic press files, gray literature, prospectuses, tracts, maps, plans, photographs, films, music, etc
- Digitized collections: More than 30,000 iconographic documents kept in the collections of the municipal library have been digitized and can be consulted online on the site of the city of Abbeville. Similarly, the Gallica and BVMM sites (virtual library of medieval manuscripts), created by the IRHT (institute for research and history of texts) host the digitizations of some of the medieval manuscripts and incunabula of the municipal library of Abbeville.
- Opening hours of the reading room (consultations on site): Tuesday from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., Thursday from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., Friday from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.
- Opening hours for exhibition visits and book lending: Tuesday to Saturday from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.
- Address: Hôtel d'Émonville - Place Clemenceau - 80100 Abbeville.
- Email: archives@abbeville.fr - Tel. : +33 3 22 24 95 16.
