The history of book culture in Kamieniec Podolski in the 16th-18th centuries

Abstract

In the beginning, the author underlines that Kamieniec Podolski was the city of several ethnic groups: the Poles, the Ruthenians, and the Armenians. The city is remarkable for the history of manuscript books - the oldest monument we know is the Armenian missal rewritten in 1349. However, the author focuses on the history of the book in Kamieniec Podolski in the 16^th-18^th centuries, presenting book collections of clerical institutions and monasteries, of the clergy and burghers. The article concludes with the description of the library of Jan de Witte (died in 1785), architect and the Kamieniec fortress commander, and his son Joseph (died in 1815). Finally, the author states that the largest monastery book collections in Kamieniec consisted of several hundred works, while those of the burghers did not exceed twenty. However, it is hard to conclude with a significant influence of clergy book collections on the community.