Plan d’une bibliotheque universelle

Libraries always have been evidence of civilization, culture, tradition, and progress. However, from the Enlightenment period and especially after the French Revolution, libraries become a factor of not only individual, but also collective and social education and elevation. In 1837, Louis Aimé Martin – conservator of the library of Saint Geneviève in Paris – published the essay Plan d’une bibliotheque universelle, where the library is described as a national educational enterprise whose aim is to bring together within the sameprinciples all classes of society. The essay cites the works of the most notable authors of all disciplines, divided by nations for the literary sphere.