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Siege and Commune of Paris Collection (ca. 1870-1871)

Find resources in and related to the Siege and Commune of Paris Collection at the Charles Deering McCormick Library of Special Collections

Search the Seige and Commune of Paris (1871) Collection at NU Library

Siege and Commune Materials in Special Collections

Many items from the Siege and Commune of Paris, 1870-1871 Collection are digitized and available ONLINE, though many others are only available for viewing in the Library's reading room. Additions to the site are made regularly. Please contact the Library for more information.

Photographs 1,220 digitized photographs include formal and carte-de-visite portraits of key political and cultural figures, composite "snapshots" of the events, and landscapes/architecture before, during, and after the Siege and Commune (handwritten notes on obverse of photographs are also available). Many more are available for reading room use. Portraits are listed alphabetically by name; landscapes/architecture are listed alphabetically by site. Examples of the photographs in the collection can be found throughout this LibGuide.

Newspapers and Periodicals The collection includes 68 newspapers in hard-copy and on film.

Books and Pamphlets The collection includes hundreds of books and pamphlets related to the Siege and Commune of Paris, inlcuding editions of works by Karl Marx and V.I. Lenin, published in the 1930s. See the Secondary Sources tab for a small selection of books owned by Northwestern University Library on the Siege and Commune of Paris.

Posters 993 original posters are part of the collection.

Caricatures Over 2,000 original political caricatures, such as the one at the left, make up a lively part of the collection. Digitized caricatures are listed alphabetically by title.

Archival Material The Library holds a small, but diverse collection of realia, inlcuding the papers of teacher, nurse, revolutionary soldier and anarchist Louise Michel (1830-1905) after she was exiled by the Third Republic for her involvement with the Commune.