A Loan to the Musée de Cluny – National Museum of the Middle Ages

As part of the temporary exhibition Unicorns! (March 10 – July 12, 2026), the Musée de Cluny – National Museum of the Middle Ages is presenting a 17th-century work from the collections of the École Polytechnique Library.

Pierre Pomet (1658–1699), a Parisian pharmacist (apothecary), assembled an extensive cabinet of curiosities and published several catalogues of pharmaceutical products.

In 1694, he published Histoire générale des drogues, which became a key reference in medical botany and pharmacology. The book is divided into three sections: Plants, Animals, and Minerals.

It is in the Animals section that the famous “unicorns” appear. What was called a unicorn’s horn was in fact a narwhal tusk (or “sea unicorn”) and was believed to have the power to neutralize poisons.

A historic and multidisciplinary collection
Founded in 1794, the École Polytechnique Library houses exceptional works and documents spanning many scientific and technical fields. This loan to the Musée de Cluny highlights the breadth and diversity of its collections and their impact beyond the École.