LibGuides: French: Find Books

New Books for French

Marie-Antoinette: The Making of a French Queen

Tips for Searching/Browsing

Call Numbers
Sample Subject Searches

Browse in these call number areas (5th floor) for books on French language and literature:

Call Number	Subject
PC2640	Dictionaries
PC2121	Conversation and phrase books
PC2112	French grammar
PC 2075	History of French
PQ1-PQ3999	French literature

Use these call number areas (3rd floor) to locate books on French history and culture:

Subject	Call Number
DC30-34.5	French culture
DC35-424	French history
DC138	French Revolution, 1989
DT521-555	French West Africa
F1001	Canadian history
F1900	Haitian history

Subject headings are often a more accurate and comprehensive way of searching for a topic than keyword searching. Subject headings can be found on the left-hand column of search results in the catalog, or at the end of a book's catalog entry.

Here are some sample subject searches:

Not Finding What You're Looking For?

Even if Hekman Library doesn't own a particular book or article that you need, you can borrow or get a copy from another library through our MeL and ILL sharing services. Just use the links below to search outside of Hekman's holdings and make requests - if you have any questions or problems, the librarians are always available to help!

Michigan eLibrary (MeL)
If you are using Search Start in the Hekman homepage, you'll find a tab to search other libraries in Michigan through MeL; also, use this link to get to their search page
WorldCAT (for Interlibrary Loan)
This interface allows you to search libraries all around the world; to make ILL requests for things you find here, use the request form
ILL Request Form
Use the appropriate form to get copies of articles/book chapters or to borrow books and other materials through ILL; keep in mind that it may take a few days for items to arrive, and watch for an email notification when it is here for pickup.

Special Topic: French Authors

Albert Camus
Albert Camus was a French philosopher, author, and journalist. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature at the age of 44 in 1957, the second youngest recipient in history. Philosophically, Camus' views contributed to the rise of the philosophy known as absurdism. He is also considered to be an existentialist.
Alexandre Dumas
Alexandre Dumas was a French writer. His works have been translated into many languages, and he is one of the most widely read French authors. Many of his historical novels of high adventure were originally published as serials, including The Count of Monte Cristo and The Three Musketeers.
Femmes ecrivains et litterature africaine
Lists of works written in French by African women writers
Jean de la Fontaine
Jean de la Fontaine was a French fabulist and one of the most widely read French poets of the 17th century. He is known above all for his Fables, which provided a model for subsequent fabulists across Europe and numerous alternative versions in France, and in French regional languages.
Marcel Proust
Marcel Proust was a French novelist, critic, and essayist best known for his monumental novel À la recherche du temps perdu (In Search of Lost Time), published in parts between 1913 and 1927. He is considered by critics and writers to be one of the most influential authors of the 20th century.
Marguerite Duras
Marguerite Donnadieu was a French novelist, playwright, screenwriter, essayist, and experimental filmmaker. Her script for the film Hiroshima mon amour (1959) earned her a nomination for Best Original Screenplay at the Academy Awards.
Voltaire
Voltaire was a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher famous for his wit, his criticism of Christianity, especially the Roman Catholic Church, as well as his advocacy of freedom of speech, freedom of religion and separation of church and state.