Last updated on 12 May 2026
Through a tweet from the BNF, I come across a splendid edition of Lewis Carroll’s masterpiece "Alice in Wonderland" illustrated by Arthur Rackham from 1908. A pure wonder.
The opportunity to discover or rediscover another marvel, Gallica, the digital library of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France.
The BNF online library celebrated its 20th anniversary last year. It offers users millions of documents scanned in high definition and indexed ready to be viewed on your computer screen or on your mobile phone. A veritable Ali Baba cavern of culture and art.
The 1908 edition of Alice in Wonderland is a good example of what Gallica can offer you as a teacher, student or simply curious.
A complete and well thought-out document reader
The document reader proposed by the BNF is very well done and integrates the functions necessary for reading, discovering or studying the work.
You will be able to read the book by flipping through the pages one after the other with a simple click. You can zoom endlessly until you discover the very grain of the paper in the book that has been scanned.
A menu bar on the left of the screen provides you with all the functions available. In addition to zooming, you can choose to view one page at a time or a double page. You can opt for a mosaic display too.
Gallica also offers a reading function aloud. You can thus listen to entire passages of the book read by a high-quality synthesis voice.
Powerful and fast search functions
Formidable too, the integrated search engine This allows you to find any word or expression inside the book. Gallica also offers a comprehensive full-text search engine that I recommend. It makes it possible to find any digital document in the vast shelving of the digital library at lightning speed.
I advise you to open a free account on Gallica. You can therefore, when you consult a book or document add it to find it easily in your personal library. You can also drag and drop digital bookmarks as you read them and find them with a single click.
Other amazing features offered by Gallica, the ability to download documents for offline consultation or without a connection. For the Alice book, for example, you can download it in PDF, TXT, image or EPUB format, which will allow you to read the book on your e-reader. You can download the page you are viewing online or the entire document.
A real happiness.
Link: Gallica the BNF Digital Library – Alice in Wonderland illustrated by Arthur Rackham
English
4 Responses
[…] in low or high definition for a better impression. As every time the quality of the graphic work, and editorial of the teams of the BNF are […]
[…] The BDnF takes the form of an application available free of charge on a computer, tablet and in a simplified form on mobile. It will allow you to start creating several types of Bd from a blank sheet or even better by using images from Gallica, the huge digital library of the BNF. […]
[…] formidable public site of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France houses in its huge shelves a pretty showcase with the Unes du Jour. Newspapers […]
[…] BDnF makes it possible to start creating several types of Bd from a blank sheet or even better, and using images from Gallica, the huge digital library of the BNF. I love it. […]