Resources of the archive and library of Saint Catherine’s parish in Wolbrom

The article tries to take a closer look at the history of the archive and library of Saint Catherine’s parish in Wolbrom, describe the local conditions and briefly characterise the archival resources and library collection. The parish archive and library, originally part of the monastery, in Wolbrom have previously been the subject of only a few studies. Saint Catherine’s parish in Wolbrom was founded in the first half of the 14th century. At  the beginning of the 1620s, it was handed over to the Canons Regular of the Lateran from the Corpus Christi Church in Kazimierz near Krakow. The first printed books almost certainly arrived in the town together with the founding of the parish, while the oldest mention of the parish book collection in Wolbrom comes from 1566. In the following centuries, the collection was successively enriched with donations from benefactors and the clergy. The main users of the collection were almost certainly the monks themselves, the heads of the parish schools and pupils. The rich collection in the parish library was not, however, always respected, especially in the 18th century when, after an inspection, attention was drawn to the terrible conditions in the library. Many valuable parts of the collection were also destroyed during wars and invasions.
The Wolbrom parish archive was mentioned for the first time in the second half of the 17th century. Initially, the archive was located in the chambers of the prior, then in the monastery library above the church sacristy. The resources of the archive mainly include parish registers. Most of the documentation comes from the time of the partitions. The parish archive also contains documents not connected with the activities of the parish. There is even a royal document from the time of Stanislaw II August Poniatowski concerning the local guild of furriers. The observations carried out in the archive and library allow important recommendations to be made concerning the safeguarding of the collection with suitable storage conditions.

KEY WORDS: Wolbrom, parish, book collection, library, archive

ABSTRAKT
Artykuł ma na celu przybliżyć historię funkcjonowania archiwum oraz biblioteki parafii św. Katarzyny w Wolbromiu, opisać warunki lokalowe oraz pokrótce scharakteryzować zasób archiwum oraz księgozbiór biblioteki. Archiwum parafialne oraz pozakonna biblioteka w Wolbromiu były dotychczas przedmiotem nielicznych badań. Parafia św. Katarzyny w Wolbromiu została erygowana w pierwszej połowie XIV w. Na początku trzeciej dekady XVII stulecia została oddana w zarząd klasztorowi Kanoników Regularnych Laterańskich z kościoła Bożego Ciała w Kazimierzu pod Krakowem. Pierwsze drukowane księgi musiały przybyć do miasta wraz z  erygowaniem parafii, zaś najstarsza wzmianka o parafialnym zbiorze książek w Wolbromiu pochodzi dopiero z 1566 r. W kolejnych wiekach swojego istnienia zbiór był sukcesywnie wzbogacany darowiznami dokonanymi przez fundatorów i duchownych. Głównymi użytkownikami księgozbioru byli zapewne sami zakonnicy, rektor parafialnej szkoły oraz uczniowie. Bogaty zbiór parafialnej biblioteki nie zawsze był jednak darzony szacunkiem, szczególnie w XVIII w., kiedy po wizytacjach zwrócono uwagę na fatalne warunki panujące w pomieszczeniach bibliotecznych. Wiele cennych pozycji musiało także ulec zniszczeniu w czasie wojen oraz
przemarszów wojsk.
Archiwum wolbromskiej parafii po raz pierwszy wzmiankowane jest w drugiej połowie XVII w. Początkowo mieściło się w izbach prepozyta klasztoru, potem w pomieszczeniu biblioteki klasztornej nad zakrystią kościoła. Do zasobu archiwum wchodzą głównie księgi metrykalne. Gros dokumentacji pochodzi z czasów zaborów. Archiwum parafii zawiera także dokumenty niezwiązane z działalnością parafii. Zachował się nawet dokument królewski z czasów stanisławowskich dotyczący miejscowego cechu kuśnierskiego. Obserwacje dokonane w lokalu archiwum oraz biblioteki pozwalają na sformułowanie istotnych uwag dotyczących zapewnienia zbiorom odpowiednich warunków przechowywania.

The article tries to take a closer look at the history of the archive and library of Saint Catherine’s parish in Wolbrom, describe the local conditions and briefly characterise the archival resources and library collection. The parish archive and library, originally part of the monastery, in Wolbrom have previously been the subject of only a few studies. Saint Catherine’s parish in Wolbrom was founded in the first half of the 14th century. At  the beginning of the 1620s, it was handed over to the Canons Regular of the Lateran from the Corpus Christi Church in Kazimierz near Krakow. The first printed books almost certainly arrived in the town together with the founding of the parish, while the oldest mention of the parish book collection in Wolbrom comes from 1566. In the following centuries, the collection was successively enriched with donations from benefactors and the clergy. The main users of the collection were almost certainly the monks themselves, the heads of the parish schools and pupils. The rich collection in the parish library was not, however, always respected, especially in the 18th century when, after an inspection, attention was drawn to the terrible conditions in the library. Many valuable parts of the collection were also destroyed during wars and invasions.
The Wolbrom parish archive was mentioned for the first time in the second half of the 17th century. Initially, the archive was located in the chambers of the prior, then in the monastery library above the church sacristy. The resources of the archive mainly include parish registers. Most of the documentation comes from the time of the partitions. The parish archive also contains documents not connected with the activities of the parish. There is even a royal document from the time of Stanislaw II August Poniatowski concerning the local guild of furriers. The observations carried out in the archive and library allow important recommendations to be made