In the heart of an old village with narrow streets, in a completely restored part of the former outbuildings of the central castle of Saint-Christol-lès-Alès, built in the 17th century, the Musée du Scribe retraces the history of writing over the last 5,000 years.
This remarkable place is the creation of a collector, Jean-Louis Bonnefille, a retired teacher and native of this village, where he has lived ever since. For more than 60 years, he has collected thousands of objects related to writing.
Visit of the Museum
About ten rooms offer to be seen, on 450m2, many authentic rooms such as :
- Writing supports through the ages (clay tablets, papyrus, rag paper, wood paper, recycled and special papers...)
- A collection of more than 7000 pens, engraves pen holders and nib boxes,
- A classroom from the 1920s, completely reconstructed with its century-old desks, its wall maps, pencil cases and pencil boxes, blotting pads, stoves, clogs, mess kits, …
One of the most recent additions to the museum’s collection is a magnificent sales representative’s display case from the firm Baignol et Farjon, dating from the years 1925–1930.
This piece is in excellent condition and stands out for being almost entirely intact, with only two or three rubber pieces missing from the lower right section.
The main hall is dedicated to 250 inkwells from all eras and regions, some made of porcelain, others of pewter, glass, leather, and so on. Various types of ink are also on display.
The visit of the classrooms is made with the help of a French/English audio-guide, commentaries adapted to any public, additional explanations for children or schoolchildren, for those who wish more in-depth commentaries are obtained by a simple click on a coloured button.
These audio-guides can be used by the hearing-impaired thanks to induction loops and all the explanatory texts in the windows are written in Braille for the visually impaired.
The Scribe Museum is also
- 12 travelling exhibitions
- calligraphy courses
- educational workshops for schoolchildren at the museum and in schools
- animations for book fairs, old trades fairs, medieval festivals, libraries, media libraries...
- Western calligraphy works (guestbook, menus, official documents, family events...
The Musée du Scribe publishes a CD on writing media from prehistory to the present day. All the supports, how to make them, how to use them, their period of use....
The Museum of the Scribe
42, rue du Clocher,
30380 Saint-Christol-lès-Alès
Tel: 04 66 60 88 10
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