The Return of Bookstores to the Palais-Royal in Paris

In 18th century Paris the Palais Royal housed booksellers in the galleries under the arcades and a new exhibition next month hosted by Les Enluminures will celebrate this heritage.

Le Retour des libraries au Palais-Royal will run at the Les Enluminures's new location at 21-22 Galerie de Montpensier in the Jardin du Palais Royal from November 26 through January 6, 2027. It will feature Parisian antiquarian booksellers Librairie Chamonal, Librarie Paul Jammes, Librairie Patrice Rossignol, and Librairie Clavreuil as well as the Librairie Alain de Grolée-Virville which was for many years located in Galerie de Montpensier. Each will present one book representative of their specialisms.

Accompanying them will be the Librairie Delamain, the oldest existing bookstore in Paris and also once housed in the Palais Royal, which will present historic archival material relevant to the Palais Royal. Engravings of the Palais Royal in the “age of the booksellers” will be displayed in the exhibition space. 

Items on show will include:

• Girolamo Aliotti's Gratulatio ad Pium II pro foelici ac secondo ex Mantuana peregrinatione reditu, Dialogus de optimo vitae genere deligendo, and De monachis erudiendis (Florence, 1460) from Les Enluminures
• Atlas Geographique Statistique, Historique et Chronologique des Deux Ameriques et des îles adjacentes  (Paris, J. Carez, Verdière, Bossange, 1825) from Librairie Chamonal
• Hieronymous Tochtermann's Schriften Buch (Augsbourg, 1744-1747) from Librarie Paul Jammes
• Etrennes Mignonnes curieuses et utiles, with several additions and corrections, a set of five volumes (Paris, Veuve Durand, 1760-1773) from Librairie Patrice Rossignol
• Jean-François Blondel's Fête publique presented by the City of Paris on the  occasion of the marriage of His Royal Highness the Dauphin, on the 13th of February MDCCXLVII (Paris(?), 1747) from Librairie Clavreuil
• Le Breton (Hector, seigneur de la Doinmeterie), heraldic manuscript on paper (France, 1621(?)) from Librairie Alain de Grolée-Virville