Le cirque commence à cheval : les archives de Paul Adrian au département des Arts du spectacle de la Bibliothèque nationale de France

Abstract

The circus starts with horses, the Paul Adrian Papers at the French national library. Auguste Rondel was a book collector with a special interest in the performing arts. From 1895 he built up a vast collection of documents relating to this theme, comprising sections devoted to the circus and to equestrian arts. This collection is at the origins of the present-day department for the performing arts at the French national library. Following in Rondel’s footsteps, other journalists, historians and collectors have also given their documentation to this department, making it available to researchers and to circus-lovers in general. One of these donors was Paul Adrian, a professional librarian who was also a chronicler and historian of the circus. His collection now held by the national library represents an important resource for research on the horse-related heritage within the world of the performing arts.

Keywords

• horse
• circus
• Adrian (Paul Henwood
• known as)
• archives
• archive collections