Description
Gallica is the digital library of the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF) and its partners. It gives free online access to more than 11 million digitised documents (January 2025): books, newspapers, maps, manuscripts, images, scores and sound recordings, mostly in French.
Online since October 1997, it mainly holds public-domain works from the Middle Ages to the 20th century. In May 2025 that meant about 863,000 books, 5.8 million newspaper and magazine issues, 1.8 million images, 196,000 maps, 186,000 manuscripts, 65,000 scores and 52,000 sound recordings. Books can be read online or downloaded, usually as PDF and sometimes as EPUB, and many have searchable text. There is a free app for iOS and Android, and the collections of partner libraries can be searched from the same site.
There is no subscription and no advertising. Works still under copyright can only be read in the BnF’s reading rooms, through Gallica intra muros. The BnF also runs RetroNews, a paid subscription site built on its press archive from 1631 to 1954, with editorial articles.
Strengths
- More than 11 million free documents from a public library.
- French literary classics as PDF, often as EPUB.
- Nearly 6 million newspaper issues for local or family history.
Weaknesses
- Recent books can only be read on site at the BnF.
- Most documents are scans, and the recognised text has many errors.
- The site declares itself not compliant on accessibility.
Who it is for
Readers of French classics who want a free e-book, and anyone researching the history of a village or ancestors in old newspapers.
Sources
- Gallica, RetroNews, checked November 2026
- Wikipedia: Gallica