Tworzenie bibliotek jako działalność wspierająca wychowanie ku niepodległej Rzeczypospolitej
Creating libraries as educational support activities aimed at the restoration of the independence of the Republic (Rzeczpospolita)

Summary/Abstract: In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries collectibles and collecting spread within Europe, and bibliophilia was quite common. At the end of the eighteenth century, and following the plundering of the Republic by foreign invaders, citizens began to strive for independence and many patriots worked to save the achievements of Polish culture. They created collections that became the treasuries of Polish culture. The collections were aimed at saving valuable items before their dispersal or destruction, including Polish literature e.g. documents, letters, diaries, and any records of scientific achievements. The collections also gave rise to numerous initiatives aimed at educating the Polish nation and fighting against national destruction. Throughout the nineteenth century until the First World War, libraries were created as institutions that were available not only to researchers, but gradually also to representatives of all social classes. It was a process that reflected, as in a mirror, the wider social changes taking place in Polish lands. Initially the founders of scientific libraries with a focus on the humanities came from the aristocracy and gentry, but from the mid-century, their ranks were joined by an increasing number of collectors from other professions, such as lawyers, politics, priests, teachers, and people of culture and art.

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