Did patronage for scientific books exist in the 19th century?

Abstract

The article discusses the topic of publishing patronage for the book in the 19th century. Although its achievements are commonly known, studies on this topic are lacking. The author explores the problems of defining the concept of patronage and their research consequences. He poses the question - what is the publishing patronage and how should it be limited. He also indicates differences in studying the phenomenon of patronage between the book historians and historians of the art, resulting from the distribution of accents determining constructive features of patronage, coming primarily from the status of objects that are the subject of research. He states that the books, regardless of the reasons for their financing or publishing, start their independent life in the society, therefore one cannot speak about any utilitarian pretexts for their publishing. Despite often ambitious motives of the patrons, they do not denigrate their merits for the Polish culture.