Th. (Théodore) Mortreuil

Born in 1850 and active well into the early 20th century, Théodore Mortreuil is chiefly remembered for La Bibliothèque nationale: son origine et ses accroissements jusqu'à nos jours, published in 1878. The book traces the long growth of France’s national library and remains the work most closely associated with his name.

Sources from the Bibliothèque nationale de France describe him as a longtime member of the institution’s staff. He served in financial and administrative roles, later became a librarian, then secrétaire-trésorier, and was eventually appointed conservateur in 1897. That steady rise helps explain the authority and affection behind his writing on the library’s history.

Mortreuil also contributed to the presentation of literary and historical treasures, including the 1924 exhibition volume Choix de chefs-d'oeuvre du XVème au XIXème siècle. Taken together, his surviving works show a writer deeply attached to books, collections, and the public life of libraries.