Researching French Local History and Genealogy

This selected bibliography focuses on published books at the Library of Congress. It concentrates on books that describe the records, the locations of records, and the research strategies to conduct French genealogy at the Library of Congress. There are also a few important websites included. The bibliography is the first of two parts: general books about French genealogy considered as a national topic (including the genealogy at national institutions, or of all the departments and provinces), comprised of the following formats: genealogical handbooks (with research strategies and descriptions of records, libraries, and archives), archival resources (describing archival records, in general, and the archives and libraries in which they are deposited), bibliographies, biographical resources, local history and geographic resources (gazetteers and local history), dictionaries of genealogical terms, and French surnames. The second part is forthcoming and will list French geographic departments and provinces, under which are listed many of the same topics listed under general books, but for a smaller, more specific area. In general, the entries are in alphabetical order by main entry. However, there is an exception under topics such as “Genealogy” if the book is a general handbook; and under “Archives” if the book is a general handbook to the region, it is listed first.