Private Book Collections in Kraków ca. 1550–1600 The Source Basis and Interpretative Limitations

Abstract

Private Book Collections in Cracow ca. 1550-1600: The Source Basis and Interpretation Limitations.

The article discusses sources illuminating Cracovians' book collections in the second half of the sixteenth century. The population of Cracow in those decades was ca. 20,000. Post-mortem and pledge inventories were engrossed in the records of the local Justice, and although the number of inventories is estimated at 1,400, only ca. 10 per cent mention books. Some inventories list several hundred copies, but the majority inform about a few or several prints. As a rule, their cursory descriptions show the author's name and the abridged title. There are, however, lists of books valued in florins. Executors of testaments and inheritors decided how detailed an inventory should be. On some occasions, the Justice's officers who carried out chattels' registration avoided detailed perusal of book collections, excusing themselves that the job was tedious. Hence, not only mass-produced and cheap books were left out, but also professional libraries of lawyers and medics. Nevertheless, there are inventories that inform about the penny literature, that is about inexpensive popular narratives and prayerbooks, which were printed in huge numbers. Nevertheless, all these sources confirm widespread confidence in Justice's verdicts. Despite the interpretational limitations commented on in this article, the extant Cracow book inventories allow one to reconstruct the reading interests of the local townspeople and the noblemen living in the capital.