The home book collection of Jan Przyborowski (1823-1896)

Abstract

The author offers a broad analysis of the book collection of Józef Przyborowski, the researcher and librarian of the 19^th century, professor of the Warsaw College, a predecessor of the University of Warsaw. The source base includes documents stored in the Ossolineum. As evidence shows, the book collection was used by J. Przyborowski as a workshop, but also it had been developed from the collector’s passion and interest in old books. The collection was analysed in formal and content aspects. Although average in amount, it is an interesting example of a research workshop of the literature historian of the 19^th century. Regarding its content, it reveals differentiation of the owner’s interests and his solicitude in selection. Numerous editions from the 16^th, 17^th and 18^th centuries point to the collector’s motivations of Przyborowski in library development.