The collection of manuscripts from the Museum of Fr. Józef Jarzębowski in Licheń Stary

Abstract

The article aims at the presentation of the collection of manuscripts, a hardly known collection of historical sources concerning different periods of the history of Poland. It describes in detail individual sets of manuscripts, a kind of guide concerning the inventory of the whole collection available in the Museum (a copy in the National Library of Poland). The most valua­ble, most comprehensive and – in this context – unobvious part of the collection, consisting of the sources for the history of the January Uprising, as well as the collection of literary autographs and royal documents. The objects which are closely related to the history of the Museum are the leg­acy of Father Józef Jarzębowski and manuscripts concerning the history of the Roman-Catholic church, documentation of the Poles’ activities during World War II, minor materials concerning the history of the Polish diaspora. It is only by recognizing the history and context of how the collection had been developed that it can be properly interpreted, individual objects included.