Library and archives

The Museum’s documentation center consists of a library and archives, accessible by appointment. 

Make an appointment to consult the library and the archives

The library 

The library has more than 3,000 works and is regularly enriched with donations and purchases. It is accessible by appointment. 

Printed sources:

  • Lists of members of French and foreign orders and biographical dictionaries
  • Statutes of the major French orders
  • Armorials and heraldic manuals 

 

Bibliography: 

  • General works and detailed studies on the French and foreign orders. 

 

Documentation: 

  • Documentation resources on the French and foreign orders
  • The Rullier et Souyris-Rolland collections.

 

The archives 

For most of the orders created in France since the Middle Ages, the archives holds documents whose source is the Great Chancery of the Legion of Honor or from acquisitions in the form of deposits or purchases.

Orders and decorations created before 1789

  • Archival holdings whose provenance is Nicolas-Pierre Tiolier, Bailiff of the Orders of the King under the Restoration: 13 registers and 20 boxes containning the archives that remained in the possession of the Bailiff of the Holy Spirit after 1830 (inventory published in Bulletin No. 5 of the Society of Friends of the Museum, 1994). These holdings complete the archives of the Orders of the King in the Clairambault Collection held at the French National Library, Department of Manuscripts.

  • Register of the appointment of the Knights of the United Orders for 1774; one box of accounts from 1781-1791

  • Cinq registres d’enregistrement des nominations de 1693 à 1757. Le complément (1758-1792) se trouve conservé au Service historique de l’Armée de Terre (cote Ya 215 à Ya 218). L’ensemble complet de ces registres est consultable sur microfilm au Service historique de l’Armée de Terre à Vincennes (Château de Vincennes - Pavillon des Armes - BP 107 - 94300 Vincennes). Le site internet saint-louis.info concerne la période 1814-1830.

    Five registers with appointments registered from 1693 to 1757. The reminder (1758-1792) is held in the Historical Service of the French Army (call numbers Ya 215 to Ya 218). The whole of these registers can be consulted on microfilm at the Historical Service of the Army in Vincennes (Castle of Vincennes – Pavilion of Arms - BP 107 - F-94300 Vincennes). The website saint-louis.info convers the period 1814-1830.

Orders and decorations created after 1789

  • One box in alphabetical order.

  • Five boxes: general documents, proposals (collective documentation by regiment) and several individual files of holders of weapons of honor who became members of the Legion of Honor (whose arms are held in the Museum). 

    Detailed inventory published in Laurence Wodey, Guide de recherche en histoire de la Légion d’honneur, 2002, pp 98-99. 

    See also the Historical Service of the Army - F-94300 Vincennes, series Yq. 

  • In 1871, a very large part of the Order's archives were lost in the fire at the Palace of the Legion of Honor during the Commune. Several documentary series have since been reconstituted, but they unfortunately contain irreparable gaps. 

    The surviving archives of the Order, from its creation to 1934, are held in the Museum. The following years of these documentary series are managed by the administrative services of the Great Chancery of the Legion of Honor. For files on French and foreign recipients of the Legion of Honor, please contact us via the contact form.

    All personal files relating to the appointment and promotion in the Order of French Members of the Legion of Honor who died before 1977 have been deposited with the National Archives. They are marked LH and listed in the Léonore application. A list of these files is available in the National Archives' Léonore database. 

    Note: As the dates of death of Legion of Honor members are not always known by the Great Chancery at the time of deposit, many files of members who died before 1977, including many who served in 1914-18, are still kept by the institution. 

    The documents that can be consulted in the Museum are listed in Laurence Wodey, Guide de recherche en histoire de la Légion d’honneur, 2002, pp 99-127: 

    • Collection of copies of decrees and orders of appointment and promotion in the Legion of Honor from 1803 to 1934
    • Statements of assets of cohorts: 51 boxes
    • Series of general documents arranged by period
    • Maisons d'education: general information on the properties and student registers up to 1880
    • Hôtel de Salm, Palace of the Legion of Honor
    • Museum 
  • Imperial Order of Réunion 

    15 boxes: personal files of members of the Order 

    Order of the Iron Crown

    1 box and one card index 

    Order of the Three Golden Fleeces 

    3 boxes: general material, proposed nominations of individuals and regiments 

    Order of the Brothers: Royal Order of the Union (Holland), Royal Order of the Two Sicilies, Order of Westphalia 

    3 boxes and alphabetical card indexes  

  • The Great Chancery’s archives on the medalists of Saint Helen disappeared in the fire at the Palace in May, 1871. Two boxes concerning the medalists of Wurtemburg remain. But lists exist in series M and 2R of the departmental archives. See the website www.stehelene.org 

     

     

     

  • The archives of this decoration are managed by the Military Medal office of the Great Chancery of the Legion of Honor. To consult them, make a request via the contact form. 

    Several registers survive dating from before the 1871 fire; the essential of the complementary archives is found in the Archives of the Ministry of Armed Forces. 

     

  • 2 boxes: archives on the creation of the Order (1957-1965)