The library of Jan Uphagen, a patrician and Gdańsk historian of the 18th century
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33077/uw.25448730.zbkh.1985.410Keywords:
private book collections of the 18th century, Gdańsk burgeois book collections of the 18th century, library of Jan Uphagen, analysis of library inventories, sources to the history of libraries, bibliological studies.Abstract
The article presents an element of the book culture of Gdańsk of the Enlightenment time, related to private collecting, popular among local scientists and patricians. The following book collections are mentioned as the most known libraries of that time: Johann Fidalke, Walenty Schlieff, Jakub Teodor Klein, Henryk Wilhelm Rosenberg, and Jan Uphagen. Most of these collections have been dispersed, parts of them (as purchases or donations) were included in the City Council Library. The main topic of the article is the J. Uphagen Library, belonging to the few 18th-century collections almost fully preserved until nowadays. This collection amounted to more than 15 000 volumes and was donated by the Uphagen family in 1897 to the City Council Library. Basing on the analysis of the inventory and preserved volumes the amount of the collection was evaluated, it's ordering, quantity of particular sections, structure (subject, language, chronology), and even its function for the owner – the historian, lawyer, bibliophile, city councilor. The preserved book collection of J. Uphagen is a valuable part of reconstructing the picture of the book culture in Poland in the Enlightenment Times.
