Editing National library (section)

==== France ====
In France, the first national library was the {{Lang|fr|[[Bibliothèque Mazarine]]|italic=no}}, which evolved from its origin as a royal library founded at the [[Louvre Palace]] by [[Charles V of France|Charles V]] in 1368. At the death of [[Charles VI of France|Charles VI]], this first collection was unilaterally bought by the English regent of France, the [[John of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Bedford|Duke of Bedford]], who transferred it to England in 1424. It was apparently dispersed at his death in 1435.<ref name=priebe/><ref name=ea>{{Americana|wstitle=National Library of France|inline=1}}</ref> The invention of printing resulted in the starting of another collection in the Louvre inherited by [[Louis XI of France|Louis XI]] in 1461.<ref name=staikos2012>{{Citation |isbn = 978-1-58456-182-8 |publication-place = New Castle, DE |publisher= Oak Knoll Press |year= 2012 |title = History of the Library in Western Civilization: From Petrarch to Michelangelo |author = Konstantinos Staikos }}</ref> [[Francis I of France|Francis I]] transferred the collection in 1534 to [[Fontainebleau]] and merged it with his private library.

[[File:Jacques Auguste de Thou.jpg|thumb|right|200x200px|As librarian of the {{Lang|fr|[[Bibliothèque Mazarine]]|italic=no}}, [[Jacques Auguste de Thou]] transformed it into the largest library in the world at the time.]]

The appointment of [[Jacques Auguste de Thou]] as librarian in the 17th century, initiated a period of development that made it the largest and richest collection of books in the world.<ref name=ea/> The library opened to the public in 1692, under the administration of [[Camille le Tellier de Louvois|Abbé Louvois]], Minister Louvois's son. Abbé Louvois was succeeded by the [[Jérôme Bignon|Abbé Bignon]], or Bignon II as he was termed, who instituted a complete reform of the library's system. Catalogues were made which appeared from 1739 to 1753 in 11 volumes. The collections increased steadily by purchase and gift to the outbreak of the [[French Revolution]], at which time it was in grave danger of partial or total destruction, but owing to the activities of Antoine-Augustin Renouard and [[Joseph Van Praet]] it suffered no injury.<ref name=ea/>

The library's collections swelled to over 300,000 volumes during the [[Legislative Assembly (France)|radical phase]] of the [[French Revolution]] when the private libraries of aristocrats and clergymen were seized. After the establishment of the [[French First Republic]] in September 1792, "the Assembly declared the ''Bibliotheque du Roi'' to be national property and the institution was renamed the ''[[Bibliothèque nationale de France|Bibliothèque Nationale]]''. After four centuries of control by the Crown, this great library now became the property of the French people."<ref name=priebe>Paul M. Priebe. "From Bibliothèque du Roi to Bibliothèque Nationale: The Creation of a State Library, 1789–1793." The Journal of Library History, Vol. 17, No. 4 (Fall, 1982)</ref>