Rare Polonica at the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, University of Toronto

Abstract

This article describes a collection of rare Polonica, numbering over five hundred books, pamphlets, manuscripts, and prints and engravings, donated to the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library in 2001 by Karol Godlewski and his family. The donor’s uncle, Count Emeryk Hutten Czapski (1897–1979), assembled the extraordinary collection. The material includes works written, edited, or translated by Polish authors. The publication dates range from 1505 to the mid-1970s, with two hundred titles predating 1801. The subject matter ranges from texts written by Terence and Plutarch to biographies of Polish kings, details of famous battles, and poetry. There are also etchings of Polish personages, palaces, landscapes, or battle scenes, many of artistic importance.