In the 18th century Lvov, unlike previously, new grand book collections failed to be created. Descendants of private libraries’ owners still used ancestors’ prints, especially when next generations were trained in the same profession, and when they passed away, the books were moved to their relatives or sold to other people interested. In this situation, at least a part of the collection remained at the disposal of users within the borders of the city. The arrival of medical doctors trained in the West with their collections of professional books was at the same a transfer of knowledge on the European level. The shaping of specialist medical skill was influenced not only by the studies abroad, but also, to a great extent, by handbooks of medicine and other medical publications written by university professors.
Like other institutions of this type in the old Polish period, the City Council of Lviv, the primary authority in the city, gathered its own book collection. It consisted of books as well as other bibliological documents, initially handwritten, then copied by using the typographic technique. Acquisition of essential books stemmed from the practical needs of the office as they served as reference collection. It included primarily legal books but also historical, astronomical, scientific and others. Apart from purchasing on the book market, books were rewritten on demand of the councilors. The collection also included books that were donated or dedicated to the city. The Council, which fulfilled the legislative, administrative and to some extent also the judiciary function, was also one of the few cultural centers in the city and a cultural patron. It can be assumed that at the end of the 17th century, apart from handwritten archival manuscripts, the library possessed over 100 books. It is hard to estimate the overall number of prints and other bibliological documents that passed through the Council over the time
The preparation for print of an extensive work entitled Dzieje rezydencji na dawnych kresach Rzeczypospolitej [The History of Residences in the Former Borderlands of the Republic of Poland] (vol. 1–11, Wrocław 1991–1997) required its author, Roman Aftanazy, to establish contacts and cooperate with various correspondents living in the former Borderlands on the current state of the buildings described. The author described in his letters to the addressee the difficulties he had to face in obtaining contemporary photographs of Polish residences.
The article contains an edition of Mieczysław Gębarowicz’s letters to Edward Róźycki from the years 1970–1984. The correspondence was kept up after Róźycki’s departure from Lviv to Poland. It contains inter alia prof. Gębarowicz’s interesting remarks on Lviv academic atmosphere, Lviv collections, as well as a description of relations in academic community among Soviet scholars as witnessed by the Ukrainians and the Russians. The letters also show Gębarowicz’s attitude to the Soviet reality. The edition in question contains the necessary commentaries.
The paper attempts to present the development of the Lvov bookbinding in the years 1701–1772. It describes not only the activities of bookbinding handcrafters, but also other vital issues connected with the craft’s management, e.g. the guild regulations. The sources on which the research is based are primarily books and files of the Lvov guild of bookbinders as well as municipal court and administrative books of the capital of the Ruthenian Voivodship.