The Enfer (/ɒ̃ˈfɜːr/; French: [ɑ̃fɛʁ], literally, Inferno or Hell) is a special department of the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris.
In 1702, orthodox and heterodox theological treatises, literary and entertaining novels, love and adventure stories were given different Library classification press marks (or "call numbers").
These scandalous works were kept mostly in a special "cabinet" (a bookcase), and there are likely to have been fewer than 50 before the French Revolution of 1789 – although legal deposit was introduced in 1537 by François I.
However, "ouvrages licencieux" were banned in France generally; so clandestine editions were printed in Holland or Switzerland and distributed and sold in secret.
During the French Revolution, the book collections of fleeing aristocrats and secularized monasteries contributed significantly to the growth of public libraries.
("extremely reprehensible from a book collector’s view but sometimes highly valuable and of great resale value; this hell is for the pamphlets, what the Naples Museum is for ancient art.").
The name apparently played on the fate that frequently befell the authors and readers of forbidden and heretical works (i.e., burning).
Pierre Larousse’s Encyclopedia Grand dictionnaire universel du XIXe siècle (Paris 1866–1877) defined the word as "endroit fermé d'une bibliothèque, où l'on tient les livres dont on pense que la lecture est dangereuse; exemple: l'Enfer de la Bibliothèque nationale."
[4] In 1913, the Bibliothèque nationale received a huge book collection from Auguste Lesouëf and his sister (whose married name was Smith); 34 of these items were given the press mark Enfer Smith-Lesouëf.
The first supplementary volume of the Grand dictionnaire universel du XIXe siècle of 1877 discuss the popular opinions about the Enfer: "Il existe à la Bibliothèque nationale un dépôt qui n’est jamais ouvert au public; c’est l’Enfer, recueil de tous les dévergondages luxurieux de la plume et du crayon.
To be allowed to consult one of the books a strongly reasoned application needed to be made to the head office, and the decision of a committee was required.
From 1909 to 1913, Guillaume Apollinaire and others prepared, without the support or knowledge of library management, a special bibliographic catalog, which recorded 854 titles and described the works.
A prominent example is Robert Darnton, who points to the emancipatory potential of the texts in which social and religious criticism are often embedded in moral transgressions.