From the 18th November there has been an exhibition at the Arsenal Library that I have been hoping to see.
While the infamous Bastille no longer exists, there still remains an entire archive of historic pieces salvaged from the Revolution. Thrown into the Seine and various ditches during the fall of the Ancien Régime, it was the Administrator of the Arsenal Library who, in 1798, recovered the now-famous archives, although at the time they held little interest to anybody.
image from www.parisbestlodge.com
Among the pieces on display are "a monumental model of the Bastille" and "a so-called “shirt” with a text written with his blood by the famous prisoner Latude". These archives give us an idea about prison living conditions, as well as a wider understanding of social and political tensions, during this incredibly volatile period in France's history.
I'm really hoping to go there this Sunday, as it sounds like a great expo, and a library/museum I've never been to, right in the heart of Paris, at her revolutionary core.
Yours,
Mustard
