Book collection of Stanisław Staszic in the University Library in Warsaw. The provenance study

Abstract

The author starts with a short history of the book collection of the Warsaw Society of Friends of Science (WSFS). Then she presents analysis of the remnants of the collection (1007 works in 2131 volumes) of the philosopher, life scientist, activist, and political writer Stanisław Staszic (1755-1826). His book collection was joined to the Library of the WSFS in the year 1826, and as a part of it ended up in the University Library in Warsaw (ULW). In the result of her provenance study U. Paszkiewicz identified 106 works in 132 volumes in the ULW collection, belonging originally to S. Staszic. She described them in regard of their publishers, physical status, provenance, and contents. The author proves that the Staszic’s collection reflects his universal reserch, social, and economic interests. She also states that all the collections formerly belonging to the WSFS Library should be carefully and specifically explored. The WSFS Library, active in the years 1802-1832, pretended to the role of the Polish national library, aiming in preservation of the Polish nation’s output and its archivisation for future generations.