Warsaw typographers and their activities in the 17th and 18th centuries in the light of privileges of the of monarchs, bishops and rectors

Abstract

In the history of Polish printing in the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, an exceptionally privileged place was given to Warsaw, which in the declining Saxon and Stanislavic eras concentrated on its territory the strongest typographic and bookselling potential of the time. Warsaw’s unquestionable primacy was evident in the field of scientific books, the pressing of which often required significant material and typographic resources. Such capabilities were generally not available to provincial printers working in small urban centers. Warsaw’s typographic primacy continued throughout the Enlightenment. From the very beginning of their presence in Warsaw, typographers sought appropriate privileges from successive monarchs. This not only made it easier to conduct publishing activities in the new place, regulating all rules and arrangements, but was also a visible protection for printers and booksellers operating in Warsaw.

For by virtue of the privilege granted to typographers, the king took the printing (bookselling) office under his protection and patronage, ensuring its publishing inviolability, by granting all the rights and freedoms enjoyed by typographers within the vast territory of the former Republic.