Funded projects

Although the institutional and social history of the École française d’Extrême-Orient (EFEO), as well as the early development of its library, have been well documented, an object-based approach has received far less attention. EFEO scholars have long engaged in identifying, collecting, assembling, preserving, and publishing research materials connected to their fields of study. These activities have played a central role in the formation of the institution’s collections.

This exploratory project focuses on three collections currently held at the EFEO. The research team—composed of Alain Arrault, Valérie Gillet, Katia Juhel, and Sovannara Mey (EFEO), and Léa Saint-Raymond (IHMC)—will examine the scientific, artistic, human, and commercial dynamics that shaped their constitution.

The first is a collection of Chinese rubbings, partly produced and assembled by scholars including Édouard Chavannes and Paul Pelliot. The second consists of Tibetan statuettes, associated primarily with Jacques Bacot and Paul Pelliot. The third is a collection of palm-leaf manuscripts assembled in India under the direction of Jean Filliozat and N. R. Bhat, now preserved at the EFEO Centre in Pondicherry.

While it may not be possible to reconstruct these processes in their entirety, the project seeks to identify their traces through the archives of the scholar-collectors and related correspondence.

This project lies at the intersection of the history of collections, the history of education, and the history of scientific and scholarly institutions. It explores these fields through the study of a specific object and a cross-cutting theme: the translation of scientific literature—its intellectual stakes, its pedagogical uses, and its material legacy within PSL collections.

The project addresses the following questions: Which books and periodicals were acquired in translation for the libraries of institutions such as the École normale supérieure, the École des Mines, the École Pratique des Hautes Études, and the École supérieure de physique et de chimie industrielles de Paris between the French Revolution and the First World War? In what proportion, compared to works acquired in their original language? How did the “geography” of languages and the choice of source languages evolve across disciplines and institutions? Who read or borrowed translated works? Which teachers and students engaged in translation activities, and in what forms?

The study combines the analysis of catalogues, acquisition registers, and, where available, lending records, with the examination of individual copies for traces of use. It will also extend to the journals and official publications of these institutions, as well as to personal archives and private collections of scholars that are now part of the current heritage collections.

The project is coordinated by Maria Pia Donato (CNRS) and led by the IHMC, in partnership with HISTARA (EA 7347), and the libraries of the École normale supérieure (ENS), the École des Mines de Paris, the École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE), and the École supérieure de physique et de chimie industrielles de Paris (ESPCI).