author
Th. (Théodore) Mortreuil
1850–1937
A longtime insider at France’s national library, this 19th-century writer turned institutional history into lively, accessible reading. His best-known work traces how the Bibliothèque nationale grew over centuries, blending scholarship with a clear sense of public mission.
1 Audiobook
La bibliothèque nationale : Son origine et ses accroissements jusqu'à nos jours
by Th. (Théodore) Mortreuil
About the author
Born in 1850, Théodore Mortreuil was a French writer and library official closely connected with the Bibliothèque nationale. Records from the BnF identify him as the author of historical works about the institution, and archival material links his career to decades of service there.
Mortreuil entered the library in 1870 and was later appointed secrétaire-trésorier, a post he held from 1885 to 1925. His long experience inside the institution gave him unusual authority as a chronicler of its past and its growth.
He is best known for La Bibliothèque nationale: son origine et ses accroissements jusqu'à nos jours (1878), a historical account of the library and its collections. Another later work, La Bibliothèque nationale: aperçu historique (1924), shows his lasting commitment to explaining the library’s history to a wider public. He died in 1937.