History of the Sapieha family library in Kodeń

Abstract

The Library in Kodeń was established by Jan Ferdynand Sapieha (1680-1751), Grand Chancellor of Lithuania. Developed by the inheritors, it amounted to 6000 volumes when passed by Aleksander Sapieha (1773-1812), chamberlain of Emperor Napoleon I and armourer of the Duchy of Warsaw, to the Warsaw Society of Friends of Learning. The article presents status of the research on the Kodeń library, and specifics of bibliophilism of the representatives of this family, who contributed to establishment and development of this collection. The analysis is based on printed sources, archival materials concerning the Sapieha family available in the Central Archives of Historical Records, the Princes Czartoryski Library in Cracow, and the Jagiellonian Library, but  mostly on remained copies with Sapieha provenance (227 units) in the Early Printed Books Department, the University of Warsaw Library.