The Archives of the Académie des sciences

The Academy has always carefully preserved its documents and files. However, it was not until the 1880s that its collections, including those from the earliest periods, were reconstituted.
The academic Archives Service preserves:
• the Minutes of meetings, the oldest of which date back to 1666 and which form a long continuous sequence right up to our times;
• numerous memoranda, reports, letters and manuscripts of all kinds, read or presented during meetings;
• biographic notes for all Members of the Academy since it was established. These include holographic papers, iconographic documents and other documentation;
• the files concerning awards. The academic mission to award prizes dates back to 1720;
• the sealed envelopes ("plis cachetés"), a procedure dating back to the 18th Century which enables authors to guarantee their rights as far as anteriority of their discovery is concerned; - various papers issued by the academic Committees and Commissions;
• personal archives, notably those of Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier and André-Marie Ampère.

The Academy's Archives also preserve various printed sources, such as the compendia of the French Royal Academy of Sciences and the collection of Comptes rendus of the Académie des Sciences created in 1835. Some of these are digitised by the Bibliothèque nationale de France. The Archives also contain a collection of portraits, busts, and medals.

Conditions for access to the Reading Room

• Horaires d'ouverture

  The reading room for the Archives Service is open from Monday to Friday, 9.30 am to 5 pm. It is best to telephone in advance, Tel. (+33)1 44 41 43 85.
  Readers should bring an ID to get an access badge at the entrance.
  On Friday, the documents must be requested before 12 am.
  

• How to get there ?

  Académie des Sciences
  23 quai de Conti
  75006 Paris
  France
  Subway: Odéon or Louvre-Rivoli