Eugène Burnouf

The sale catalogue, compiled on the death of B., is divided into two parts dedicated to printed books and to manuscripts, respectively. The first part consists of a continuous succession of 2,370 descriptions divided within a classification scheme organized into 13 main classes: Théologie (nos. 1-176), Jurisprudence (nos. 177-238), Philosophie (nos. 239-312), Sciences (nos. 240-400), Beaux Arts (nos. 401-428), Linguistique (nos. 429-1746), Géographie et voyages (nos. 1747-2065), Histoire (nos. 2066-2410), Archéologie (nos. 2411-2562), Biographie (nos. 2563-2580), Bibliographie (nos. 2581-2621), Mémoires académiques (nos. 2622-2634), Journaux (nos. 2635-2677) to which is added a section of Textes imprimés de l’Inde (nos. 2678-2730). The second part includes 218 manuscripts.
The index of the names is missing, while the Table des divisions is given at the end of the catalogue. In the Avis preceding the catalogue it can be read that for the common works a mixed system in accordance to the habits of readers was preferred to the strict classification usually adopted when describing a public library, while a linguistic criterion was used for those works written in languages that lie outside ordinary education.