Zainteresowanie poezją w środowisku lwowskich rzemieślników na przykładzie wypożyczeń w bibliotece Stowarzyszenia “Gwiazda”
Interest in Poetry among Lvov Craftsmen Exemplified by Loans from the Library of the "Gwiazda" Association

Summary/Abstract: The preserved hand-written catalogue of the library of the Lvov Association of Craftsmen "Gwiazda" ("The Star") together with the register of loans during the years 1880-1883 enabled us to get acquainted with the collection of books and the book selections made by craftsmen at that time. The object in focus was a volume of poetry and its use in the mentioned environment. The collection primarily included editions of poetry by contemporary local authors, such as A. Asnyk, W. Bełza, M. Romanowski and others. Among writers whose work was available in wide selection were W. Pol (10 titles), T. Lenartowicz and W. Syrokomla. The number of works by great Polish Romantic poets was relatively small: A. Mickiewicz (3 titles), Z. Krasiński (2), J. Słowacki (1). That was also the case of the old authors, namely J. Kochanowski, J.U. Niemcewicz, and J. P. Woronicz. The number of volumes by foreign authors was also negligible with merely single editions of G. Byron's, S. Petofi's, M. Lermontow's works, and two volumes by F. Schiller. The register of loans of this library made it possible to reveal the names of authors and the titles of those works that were most frequently borrowed by craftsmen, as well as those craftsmen's names and professions. It was T. Lenartowicz's poetry (19 readers - some borrowed the same item many times), and W. Pol's works that were most frequently on loan, whereas other authors aroused interest of only a limited number of readers. A large part of the library collection, including items such as "Pan Tadeusz", "Sonety" by A. Mickiewicz, "Maria" by A. Malczewski, Z. Krasinski's, J. Słowacki's or J. Kochanowski's works, was never on loan. Of the total number of 158 items registered in the poetry section (which constitutes 23,4% of the collection) only 37 reached the hands of the readers. Among the craftsmen (differentiated by profession) poetry readers were primarily those who used the library resources on permanent basis, which confirms the fact that the level of difficulty posed by poetry reading could be overcome by a limited number of readers.

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