Last updated on 12 May 2026
It is an essential resource for all those, whether teachers or students, who are interested in the Great French Revolution. The digital archives of the French Revolution (ANRF) offer from a website open to all the digitised version of the main sources of study of this founding period. A real treasure chest.
These public archives are the result of a collaboration between BnF and Stanford University It is based mainly on two main sources: the parliamentary archives and a large iconographic collection entitled "Images of the French Revolution".
The site is sober, but offers all the tools needed to find itself in the colossal amount of information it contains.. Several entries are possible. You can choose to consult the parliamentary archives or the images. You can also refine by character, chronology or type of document. The safest thing is still to start with the search engine proposed on the front page of the site.
A fast and accurate search engine for guided advanced queries for the most relevant results possible. The search can be done in the text of the archives or among the photos or among the two sources. The digitisation of images and prints is of high quality and you will be able to view them in full screen and zoom in as you wish.
The site also allows you to download them to your computer. As for the text, the site shows you side by side the original document and the transcript of the text contained in the document.
In addition to the very useful search engine, I highly recommend the chronological frieze proposed on the front page of the site. It alone deserves to keep the address of these digital archives in your favourites.
A good example of what CTBTs can bring to historians in presenting their work. The interactive frieze at the bottom of the homepage (I would have put it at the top of …) allows you to browse all events in chronological order and view texts or documents related to each date. A real success.
An excellent resource to put in all hands and a realisation without real flaws for this archive site. Thank you to BNF and Stanford University for that.
Link: Digital archives of the French Revolution.
English