On Geographical Literature as Popular Culture in Rural France, c. 1860-1900

The transition from an oral to a written culture was completed in France during the nineteenth century and with it was achieved a fundamental expansion of geographical knowledge. This paper considers the potential contribution of bibliothèques populaires to popular culture in rural France during the second half of the nineteenth century and examines the kind of geography books contained in the collections of two such libraries in the département of Loir-et-Cher.