Libraries of the Polish Crown Province of the Basilians Order in the 18th century

Abstract

The author discusses history of 42 libraries of the Basilians in the eastern territories of Poland. Significant dispersion of the Order archives was an important factor in this study. The source for the article are registers of monastery books from the end of the 18^th century, as well as handwritten and printed archival sources, literature concerning the Basilians history, and a provenance material. Activity and role of the Basilians libraries were defined in the rules, so called “Bibliothecae”. They stated that the monastery libraries should serve the monks and the students of the Order schools. To realise these goals, the Order Constitutions defined funds and staff. The librarians were obliged to run library catalogues or inventories. The catalogues and inventories discussed by the author had been prepared with the same technique. Limited information concerning catalogue positions does not allow to determine the content of the Basilians collections. Data from these sources, as well as identified provenance material, did not make it possible to determine actual number of the Basilians libraries in the Polish Crown Province. They were also insufficient to trace the process of book collection development and sources of their acquisition. Further studies require access to other monastery sources: chronicles, visitation reports and recommendations, registers of expenditures. The list of identified Basilians libraries from the Polish Crown Province is annexed.