Early Printed Polonica in the New York Research Libraries

Abstract

The paper discusses the collection of Polonica printed from the 15th to 18th century, held by various New York research libraries. Polish-subject materials are owned by several academic libraries, such as the Columbia University Library, the Union Theological Seminary Library, the General Theological Seminary Library and the New York Academy of Medicine. Small number of titles can be found among the holdings of the Hispanic Society of America, the Brooklyn Public Library and in the New York Historical Society. The New York Public Library is the owner of the largest collections of Polish materials in the New York area. Valuable and rare editions issued in Cracow, among them incunabula and early books from the 16th century, have been collected by the Morgan Library & Museum. A number of books acquired by the Morgan Library came from some outstanding Polish scattered collections. All of these books represent various fields of science, history and Old Polish literature, natural and legal sciences, and theology with a rich collection of reformation and counter-reformation literature. Many of them were written by well-known Polish authors, including Stanisław Hozjusz, Marcin Kromer, Mikołaj Kopernik (Nicolaus Copernicus), Wawrzyniec Goślicki and Jan Heweliusz (Johannes Hevelius).