Biblioteka kolegium jezuitów w Lublinie i jej losy
The Library of the Jesuit College in Lublin and its history

Summary/Abstract: The Library of the Jesuit College in Lublin was established in 1584. The collection successively increased thanks to gifts, purchases, Jesuit works and publications from its own printing house. At the time of the dissolution of the order, it included 5.000-7.000 works. It was one of the largest Jesuit libraries in Poland. It contained theological, philosophical, historical, mathematical, political, legal and medical works; school textbooks; polemical treatises; collections of sermons and talks. There were various types of libraries in the college of Lublin. The most important one, available to monks, was a home library (also called a common library). In addition, there were libraries and book collections related to different offices and functions; they were called special or specialized. There were at least 12 special libraries in Lublin. At first, the Library of the Lublin Jesuits was not particularly distinguished from other religious houses. However, in the middle of the 18th century, the common library hall was renovated and decorated. Thanks to this, it acquired a decorative character, arousing the admiration of visitors. The book collection was probably also arranged in subject sections. Unfortunately, the old catalogues have not survived, and we know about their existence from bookplates.After the dissolution of the Jesuits, the Library of Lublin did not attract much interest, although the Commission of National Education decided that the collection should be transferred to school libraries. Both the building of the library and the collection gradually deteriorated. However, some books of the collection (probably around 500) were placed in the library of the primary school established in the former Jesuit College. In 1919, the collection of the Jesuit Library was donated to Hieronim Łopaciński Library, although it was not transferred there until after World War II. Currently, according to the catalogue, in the special collections of the Provincial Library, there are 94 books from the Jesuit Library. A large part of the collection – about 3.000 volumes – was deposited in the cathedral, and at the time of transferring Bobolanum to Lublin in the interwar period, it was incorporated into the Bobolanum Library.

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