The French language and literature collection is rich in all time periods from Old French (ca. 1500) to the 21st century, with outstanding collections of rare books and manuscripts. Recently, special attention has been paid to francophone literature of Africa, the West Indies, and Canada.
The Penn Library Rare Book & Manuscript Library possesses a deep and diverse range of French language materials, much of it divided into separate collections. For example, the Maclure Collection contains some 20,000 pamphlets published in France between approximately 1788 and 1802 and is also available in a microfilm set of 371 reels at Microfilm 1927. Among individual titles is a nearly complete run of Illustration (1843-1944). Other highlighted collections are listed below.
- French Culture Class Collection
- Pamphlets of the French Revolution
- Lorraine Beitler Collection of the Dreyfus Affair