Historic Library

In 1891, when the museum was still mainly focused on religions, Émile Guimet organised Buddhist ceremonies there: Georges Clémenceau was among the Parisians who discovered this spirituality without leaving the capital.

In 1905 Émile Guimet invited there a Dutch dancer who amazed the Tout-Paris with her orientalised and erotic performances of Brahminical dances. It was after she danced through the columns of the historical library that she would be given her stage name: Mata Hari.

Today the library holds a collection of over 100 000 books specialised in the ancient arts and archaeology of Eastern and Far-Eastern Asia.

A superb tribute to the museum as Émile Guimet had wished it and known, in 1979 the library was classified historical monument. It hosts temporary exhibitions on the first floor.