AGORHA: connecting book and art history
The online portal AGORHA, developed by the Institut national d’histoire de l’art, comprises a suite of thematic databases bringing together digitised documents, archival sources, and biographical records relating to individuals, collections, and institutions in France.
Although AGORHA is not conceived primarily as a tool for bibliographical or codicological research, a few of its databases engage directly with books and libraries. Among these are Livres français d’architecture (1512–1914) and Acteurs de la Bibliothèque d’art et d’archéologie (1909–1917). Other databases adopt a broader art-historical scope, yet remain valuable for those concerned with the history of book collecting.
The database Collectionneurs, collecteurs et marchands d’art asiatique en France (1700–1939), for example, assembles information on French collectors and dealers, including figures active in the book trade. It further offers an interactive map, which allows users to visualise places of activity and filter by date range, thereby introducing a spatial and chronological dimension to provenance research.
While AGORHA may not form part of the standard tools habitually consulted by bibliographers and books scholars, it could serve as valuable resource for researchers investigating collecting practices and the broader cultural history of book ownership.
Alessandro Bianchi, member of Council
