LSU Libraries Special Collections, in association with the LSU School of Art, presents a collaborative exhibition titled: La langue mondiale: French as the Language of Art and Thought, November 4, 2013 – March 8, 2014 in Hill Memorial Library.

La langue mondiale is a multi-faceted exhibition exploring French contributions to and influence on art, culture, and science over the centuries from Europe to Louisiana. Art history students, under Professor of Art History, Darius Speith, curated materials in the first floor gallery, examining artistic life in nineteenth-century Paris from a literary perspective.

The second floor gallery, curated by Head of Special Collections Jessica Lacher-Feldman and Assistant Curator of Books, Michael Taylor, features major scientific works, such as volumes of Diderot’s Encyclopédie, Buffon’s Natural History, and Description de L’Egypte, a record of the scientific expedition that accompanied Napoleon in Egypt. Rare early French dictionaries and works by19th century Louisiana Creole authors will also be on display, as well as a glimpse at Lafcadio Hearn’s Gombo Zhebes, a rare and colorful 19th book of Creole proverbs, along with their French and English translations.

The opening of the exhibition coincides with the lecture by French historian and essayist, Marc Fumaroli, member of L’Académie française and author of numerous works, including When the World Spoke French. The lecture is sponsored by the LSU College of Art and Design and the LSU Department of French Studies and will be held in the Union Theatre on November 4 at 5 pm.  The reception for this talk, which will serve as the opening for this exhibit, will take place at Hill Memorial Library immediately following the talk. Click here for details.