Księgozbiór kolekcjonera dzieł sztuki. Słów kilka o bibliotece Seweryna hr. Mielżyńskiego z Miłosławia

Abstract

Count Seweryn Mielzynski belonged to the core group of preeminent art collectors in the nineteenth century Greater Poland. At his Miloslaw palace he had his private book collection amounting to 5,000 volumes which, by his last will, he bequeathed to the library of the Poznan Society of Friends of Sciences. Following a query and extensive searches of the present book collection of the library it was possible to identify 287 titles, in 368 volumes, that were originally housed at Miloslaw. The subject matter of the surviving books indicates that Mielzynski and his wife Franciszka were mostly interested in purchasing contemporary belles-lettres, therefore books that provided stimuli for entertainment, but also more serious literature with issues to be considered and one that provided food for thought. Additionally, a large group of books in the surviving book collection includes books on the fine arts, architecture and photography, which reflected the artistic interests of Seweryn Mielzynski and must have been useful in his painting and amateur photography endeavors. A separate group includes books that deal with historiography and the history of the arts, necessary for the owner to continue his collector’s quest, and later used by him in developing a catalogue of his Western European paintings held at Miloslaw.