„Zabawki poetyckie niektórych kawalerów (i dam) Akademiey”. Humorous works by some employees of the Scientific Library of PAU and PAN in Krakow from the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s.

Funny poems, humorous pseudo-biographies, cartoons – one may sometimes encounter them among private collections or the library and national archives resources. Written for namesday, farewell, Saint Nicolas Day or Women’s Day, they were of ephemeral nature and were quickly forgotten together with their author or recipient. As time went by, the profiles and situations were getting less and less recognisable. It is a pity, as sometimes these small pieces represented their author’s skill and contained an interesting picture of customs present in particular society.
In this paper we present two such works related to the employees of Library, one written in 1967 and the other – probably – in 1982. The first one is a funny bibliography of academic and literary pieces allegedly written by them, containing references to their works, interests, sometimes real-life problems, looks or personality. In 1967, when the text was read on the occasion of Prima Aprilis, despite the efforts, the author remained unknown. Today, after more than 50 years, professor Jerzy Zdrada, a respected historian, then a dissident and minister, admitted the authorship. At that time, he was a young librarian at the Cataloguing Department.
The author of the second work remains unknown. These are 23 small poems in which 23 female library employees have been described on the occasion of Women’s Day. They are also full of humour and accurate professional allusions, sometimes attempts to catch person’s traits of character.
Both typescripts are currently included in our Library Manuscripts Collection. The texts have been prepared for print, the introduction written and footnotes added by Karolina Grodziska and Jerzy Zdrada. To him, as the author of the Bibliography, shall also be credited the identification of some hidden phrases as well as reminding of numerous interesting events from the history of the Library.

Key words: Krakow, Scientific Library of PAU and PAN in Krakow, customs, literary games, parodies

Funny poems, humorous pseudo-biographies, cartoons – one may sometimes encounter them among private collections or the library and national archives resources. Written for namesday, farewell, Saint Nicolas Day or Women’s Day, they were of ephemeral nature and were quickly forgotten together with their author or recipient. As time went by, the profiles and situations were getting less and less recognisable. It is a pity, as sometimes these small pieces represented their author’s skill and contained an interesting picture of customs present in particular society.
In this paper we present two such works related to the employees of Library, one written in 1967 and the other – probably – in 1982. The first one is a funny bibliography of academic and literary pieces allegedly written by them, containing references to their works, interests, sometimes real-life problems, looks or personality. In 1967, when the text was read on the occasion of Prima Aprilis, despite the efforts, the author remained unknown. Today, after more than 50 years, professor Jerzy Zdrada, a respected historian, then a dissident and minister, admitted the authorship. At that time, he was a young librarian at the Cataloguing Department.
The author of the second work remains unknown. These are 23 small poems in which 23 female library employees have been described on the occasion of Women’s Day. They are also full of humour and accurate professional allusions, sometimes attempts to catch person’s traits of character.
Both typescripts are currently included in our Library Manuscripts Collection. The texts have been prepared for print, the introduction written and footnotes added by Karolina Grodziska and Jerzy Zdrada. To him, as the author of the Bibliography, shall also be credited the identification of some hidden phrases as well as reminding of numerous interesting events from the history of the Library.