"He was a European, an educated man". Foreign contacts of Professor Adam Schaff (1913-2006) based on provenance analysis of selected copies from his book collection

Abstract

The article presents the results of the research conducted on the topic “The private book collection of Professor Adam Schaff in the collections of the Joint Libraries of the Faculties of Philosophy and Sociology of the University of Warsaw, Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, and the Polish Philosophical Society”[1]. Professor Adam Schaff (1913–2006) gathered an extensive book collection during his many years of academic work, falling during the Polish People’s Republic period. After his death, it was transferred to the Joint Libraries of WFiS UW, IFiS PAN, and PTF[2]. A. Schaff maintained contact with many foreign scholars specializing in philosophy and sociology, which directly influenced the analyzed collection. The article contains a qualitative, quantitative, and provenance analysis of this book collection. Provenance and bibliographic methods were used to study the characteristics of selected copies, making it possible to reconstruct Schaff’s contacts with the foreign scientific community. [1] Master’s thesis, supervisor: Prof. Jacek Puchalski, University of Warsaw, 2023. [2] Joint Libraries of the Faculties of Philosophy and Sociology of the University of Warsaw, the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, and the Polish Philosophical Society (PB WFiS UW, IFiS PAN, and PTF) is the proper name of the institution established in the 1950s, which consisted of 3 combined libraries, with joint staff and premises, but separate assets and thematically complementary book collections in philosophy and sociology.