French

Collection overview

The collection covers language and literature from the medieval period, but is particularly strong in literature from the mid-19th century onwards.

Critical material is also available in English, together with some English language translations of key or representative texts.

There are modest holdings in Occitan.

Collection strengths include:

Emphasis on literature, with primary texts collected mainly in the original language
A focus on contemporary authors
Good holdings in post-colonial literatures
Strong holdings in the literature of French-speaking Africa
Substantial holdings of related periodical literature and Special Collections material

See our latest acquisitions

Collection location

Many books are located on the 5th floor South Block
All items available on open access will display the location FRENCH, with the classmark prefix 3 eg FRENCH 5th Floor (3) XTA Kay
All periodicals except the most recent issues are now located in the Stack Service and need to be requested using the Library catalogue. Recent periodicals are on display bays in the Periodicals Library 4th floor . For more information on finding journals, see our journals resources page
Some items are held in the closed access stacks. These will display the location Stack Service. Please request stack items through the online catalogue
To locate individual titles use the online catalogue

Related collections

Art – for French art and aesthetics
Film – books on French film are with the Film and Media Studies collection, and French films are with the DVD collection
History – history of France and French-speaking countries
Latin American and Caribbean Studies – for material from the French-speaking Caribbean
Music
Palaeography
Philosophy
Special Collections – Goldsmiths’ Library of Economic Literature (early French socialism, French history, travel), Porteus Library (French Revolution)
Dictionaries and reference works in the Information Centre, 4th floor South Block

Classmarks for French

All classmarks in this collection have a numerical prefix of 3 eg FRENCH 5th Floor (3) XTA Kay

French language: XS

Old French to 1500: XSY

Anglo-Norman French: XSZ

French literature: XT

History of French literature (general): XT-XTJ

French literature to 1300: XTJ

French literature 14th-15th centuries: XTK

French literature Renaissance: XTL

French literature 17th century: XTM

French literature 18th century: XTP

French literature 1789-1850: XTQ

French literature 1850-1900: XTR

French literature 1900-1960: XTT

French literature 1960-2010: XTU

French literature 2011- : XTV

French literature of Asia and North Africa: XTW

French literature of Africa: XTX

Belgian literature: XTY

French-Canadian literature: XTZ

French-language material from Latin America and the Caribbean is shelved with the Latin American and Caribbean Studies collection

Francophone Caribbean: PC2001-3761

Francophone Caribbean literature: PQ1-3999

Occitan language: XKP

Occitan literature: XKQ-R

For a more detailed explanation of classmarks see the Library's leaflet 'A guide to the classification scheme'.

Other libraries

For more information about French Studies holdings in other academic libraries in the London area, please consult the M25 Consortium of Higher Education Libraries website: www.m25lib.ac.uk. For elsewhere in the UK, consult the Consortium of University and Research Libraries catalogue: www.copac.ac.uk.