French History, Politics, and Law
Special Collections holds French Revolutionary tracts as well as a large collection centering around the intersection between the history of French political institutions and the development of French law, but also includes many works on French and European history more generally. The majority of the collection dates from the 19th century, but it includes over 200 items from the 13th to 18th centuries.
How to Use the Collection
With a few exceptions, the collections can be accessed and requested through the library catalog. Finding aids for individual collections are linked on this website. Materials are available for use in the Special Collections Reading Room (room 401) during regular hours. Materials do not circulate.
Finding Aids for French History, Politics, and Law
Jacques Flach Collection.

Biographical Sketch GeoffroiJacques Flach(1846-1919) was born in Strasbourg, France, the capital of the Alsace region, on February 16, 1846. His…
Rare Books

The Rare Books Collection is the default designation for materials in Special Collections that are acquired as individual items. Like Special…
Related Exhibits
Geofroi Jacques Flach

This site documents the journey of the library of Geofroi Jacques Flach from France to Missouri. He collected books over...
Selected Items
Reflections on the Revolution in France and on the Proceedings in Certain Socieities in London Relative to that Event

"Published in 1790, less than a year after the storming of the Bastille, Edmund Burke’s Reflections on the Revolution in France stands as one of the…
The Last Will and Testament of Lewis XVI

"This solemn and deeply personal document was composed by King Louis XVI while imprisoned in the Temple. In it, Louis reflects on his faith, appeals…
Histoire naturelle, générale et particulière, avec la description du Cabinet de roi.

t. l. De la manière d'étudier et de traiter l'histoire naturelle. Histoire et théorie de la terre. Par m. de Buffon. 1749.--t. 3. Description du…
Les vies des plus illustres philosophes de l'antiquité : avec leurs dogmes, leurs sytsêmes, leur morale, & leurs sentences les plus remarquables / traduites du grec de Diogene Laërce. Auxquelles on a ajouté la vie de l'auteur, celles d'Epictete, de Confucius, & leur morale, & un abrégé historique de la vie des femmes philosophes de l'antiquité.

The Anarchy and Horrors of France, Displayed By a Member of the Convention

"Published in 1793, The Anarchy and Horrors of France offers a stark and critical view of the chaos that had overtaken the French Revolution by its…
Encyclopédie : ou, Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers / par une société de gens de lettres ; mis en ordre & publié par M. Diderot ... & quant à la partie mathématique, par M. d'Alembert.

36 volumes : portraits
Vol. 30 has imprint: Neufchatel, Société typographique, 1779.
Sauvons les bébés par l'allaitement maternel [graphic] / [dessin de] R. Stéphany.

1 print (poster) : black & white ; 79 x 60 cm