The Lieutenant General of Police Lenoir’s Parisian Library (1732-1807): Between Educated Leisure and Administration

This article studies Lieutenant General of Police Lenoir’s Library through the catalogue produced by the printer Valade in 1782. As part of the reading traditions of the great public servants in the 18th century, Lenoir’s collection demonstrates his intellectual curiosity regarding literary, political and philosophical novelties, alongside his appetite for science, and his practical interests related to the exercise of his magistracy. Shared out between the Police station and the Bastille depot, this library acquires a hybrid status, halfway between necessary equipment for the police administration and personal leisure. Beyond the private dimension of Lenoir’s library, consideration should be given to its integration within a wider system of police information and compilation of knowledge, cornerstone of the art of governing.