The hall of the Library
© MAD
The Library of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs was founded in 1864 by the Union Centrale des Beaux-arts Appliqués à l’Industrie, which became the Union Centrale des Arts Décoratifs, then Les Arts Décoratifs, to meet the needs of artists and craftsmen.
Since it moved into the Pavillon de Marsan in 1904, it has become a reference and research library for students, historians and art critics, as well as for architects, designers, graphic artists, fashion and set designers, art experts and auctioneers.
A computerized catalog of bibliographic data containing 100,000 entries can be consulted at the library or on Internet at:
https://bibliotheque.madparis.fr
A Priceless Heritage
The library has grown steadily over the years. It has an outstanding collection of works in the decorative arts, graphic arts, architecture, design, costume and fashion, the history of art and the art of gardening.
• 120,000 printed volumes, books, exhibition catalogs, including:
• 1,500 catalogs of Salons
• 1,800 catalogs for the universal exhibitions since 1851
• 17,000 rare books from 15th to the 21st century
• 500 illustrated Japanese scrolls and books from the 18th and 19th centuries
• 2,000 periodicals, including 200 full sets
• 40,000 sales catalogs from the 18th century to the present day
• a collection of 19th-century photographs
• records of interior architecture from the 20th century
The 5,000 in-folio albums in the Maciet collection line the walls of the reading room. This unique picture collection is named after its creator, Jules Maciet who, from 1885 to 1911, collected and methodically classified thousands of engravings, photographs, lithographs, postcards and documents of all provenances. The first digital images can be consulted at the library.
Facilities:
• A reading room with a hundred seats is located on the edge of the Tuileries Garden, on the ground floor of the Marsan wing of the Louvre.
• A computerized catalog room
• A reference room with 1600 books freely available
• A rare book room
Access
Metro train stations: Palais Royal-Musée du Louvre, Tuileries, Pyramides
Bus: 21, 27, 39, 48, 68, 72, 81, 95
Parkings: Carrousel du Louvre, rue des Pyramides