Forney Library

Founded in 1886 through a bequest from industrialist Forney, it was intended to serve as a documentation center for Parisian craftsmen. Today, it offers art and architecture enthusiasts books and periodicals, as well as slides, posters, 18th-century fabric samples, furniture and ironwork drawings, wallpaper collections, and many other treasures. The Forney Library is dedicated to the decorative arts, graphic design, fashion and costume, iconography, the history of printing, and art in general.

https://www.paris.fr/equipements/bibliotheque-forney-18#presentation

Serving both as a lending and conservation library, the Bibliothèque Forney specializes in fine arts, decorative arts, graphic arts, crafts and techniques, as well as fashion, advertising and design. It is one of the main heritage libraries of the City of Paris, notable for the diversity of its collections: books and journals, exhibition and museum catalogues, auction and trade fair catalogues, and much more. It holds one of France’s richest collections, including advertising posters, wallpapers, fabric samples, trade catalogues and postcards. The library also preserves original drawings, maquettes and professional archives, along with a substantial body of advertising materials.

The Bibliothèque Forney is part of the network of specialized libraries of the City of Paris, with collections focused on decorative arts, crafts and techniques, fine arts and graphic arts. It regularly hosts exhibitions.

Bibliothèque Forney, 1 rue du Figuier – (tel. 01 42 78 14 60, open Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 1:00 PM to 7:30 PM, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 10:00 AM to 7:30 PM)