Ewa Danowska

When a daughter married, her parents were supposed to provide her with not only a dowry, but also with a bridal trousseau. This consisted of personal items and household goods. Sometimes the value of the trousseau equalled the dowry. In noble homes, it was collected almost from the daughter’s childhood, and when the wedding was expected, this activity intensified. Frequently, the trousseau was accompanied by a designated trusted servant, who moved to the home of the young bride. All matters connected with the necessity of giving a daughter a trousseau were regulated by law.
In old-Polish law, care was taken about the material security of wives, which consisted of the necessity to secure her dowry by the husband, often with a value exceeding the dowry. A register of the trousseau was made, with details of the clothes, jewels and equipment designated for the lady getting married. Such a document was usually signed by the parents and the son-in-law, and was also entered into clerical records.
The trousseau published here belonged to Ludwina Chwalibożanka, daughter of the Krakow court worker Józef. On the day of Ludwina’s wedding, he had already passed away, and the trousseau was given by her step-father Aleksander Dąmbski and mother Elżbieta. In 1771, Chwalibożanka married Ludwik Chronowski, son of Michał and treasurer of Wiślicka.

The article is a preliminary research on the body of bookplates by Stanisław Dawski (1905–1990) – an artist, graphic designer, painter, professor and the rector of the State College of Fine Arts in Wrocław (currently the Academy of Fine Arts). The Graphic Collections of the Scientific Library of PAU and PAN keeps 383 plates (some of them used two-sidedly) with 409 matrices used for graphics, mostly bookplates; Dawski produced c. 505 bookplates. The collection was donated to the Library in 2009 by Lech Kokociński.

The manuscript collections of the Scientific Library of the PAAS and the PAS in Cracow (manuscript 3906) include an inventory prepared after the death of Emilia Majerowa, neé Friedlein, who died in Cracow in 1842. Her husband was Wojciech, a lawyer, and her brother-in-law was Józef Majer, the president of the Academy of Arts and Sciences. The inventory of movables was drawn up after their owner’s death; their evaluation played an important role in inheritance proceedings. The reliability of such a document is not questionable. Today it provides information about the material culture of the epoch and social class concerned – in this case, a wealthy intellectual house from the times of the Free City of Cracow. The posthumous inventory of Emilia Majerowa’s property is quite large, containing thoroughly described and evaluated home equipment, clothes, jewellery, a large library for the standards of those times, and financial documents. The edition of the inventory was preceded by a preface with facts about the Majer family, as well as information concerning the characteristics of the posthumous inventory as a legal document. The paper ends with a glossary of Old Polish terms that were still used at that time and are a characteristic part of the 19th-century vocabulary.

2016 marks the 170th birthday and 100th death anniversary of Henryk Sienkiewicz. On this occasion The Senate of Poland proclaimed 2016 the year of Sienkiewicz. In the Scientific Library of the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Polish Academy of Sciences there are a lot of materials connected with the writer, the majority of them studied and published. There are bio- bibliographi- cal materials; especially interesting are his letters to private people and to institutions. A very valuable item is the manuscript of the “Letters from Africa” from the “Czas” (a daily newspaper) files. Sienkiewicz is referred to in the memoirs of Felicja Kęszycka-Schnayder, who describes her meeting with the writer in Switzerland and later his funeral. Sienkiewicz and his work was also the subject of the studies of Józef Marian Święcicki, Benedykt Filipowicz or Józef Tretiak. An example of the writer’s interest in fine arts are his pencil drawings- sketches. The Library possesses also numerous photographs of Henryk Sienkiewcz. What is more, in Father Jan Fijałek’s collection there are numerous newspaper clips referring to Sienkiewicz giving an insight into his life and work. Sienkiewicz’s links with the Academy of Arts and Sciences should also be mentioned. He was a founder of Maria Sienkiewicz née Szetkiewicz (his wife) scholarship that was administrated by the Academy of Arts and Sciences.

23 June 1828 saw the funeral in Krakow of Tadeusz Kościuszko, who had died a year earlier. The corpse of the Commander was ceremoniously placed in Wawel Cathedral, and the Senate of the Free City of Krakow decided to commemorate him with a suitable monument. Numerous suggestions concerning its form appeared from the leaders of Krakow as well as its residents. It was decided to create a mound for the hero on Bronisława Hill, based on the already existing Krakus and Wanda mounds. A suitable resolution was passed Jak powstawał Kopiec Kościuszki w Krakowie... 63 by the Senate on 19 July 1820. A collection of necessary funds was initiated and the course of work was planned. The ceremonial inauguration took place on 16 October 1820. The Tadeusz Kościuszko Monument Construction Committee was established, with the aim of supervising the work and financial aspects of the undertaking. Local society actively participated in the activities, which were not without difficulties or unpleasant surprises of a technical or construction nature. The establishment of a settlement around the Mound was planned, with the residents taking care of the Mound, but was not carried out. On 25 October 1823, work on the construction of Kościuszko Mound ended. The surrounding area was developed and a road built. Maintenance work on the Mound continued and turned out to be a constant necessity. The Austrian powers accepted the existence of the Mound after the end of the Republic of Krakow, and in 1860 placed a granite stone with an inscription on its peak.

The collection of the Academic Library of the Polish Academy of Art and Sciences and the Polish Academy of Sciences contains five volumes of documents titled “Education Nationale” (book number 2220, vol. 1–5). One of the volumes is held by the Princes Czartoryski Library. The materials are neither organised in chronological order nor by theme. Some threads related to the dissolution of the Jesuit Order as well as the establishment and activity of the Commission of National Education and the Polish-Lithuanian Commission for Distribution, responsible for distributing assets of the Jesuit Order for educational purposes under the Commission of National Education supervision, can be separated. What is worth to pay attention to are the letters of ex-Jesuits to king Stanisław August Poniatowski as well as other pieces of correspondence, a variety of draft laws, practical issues on goods and financial matters, minutes on meetings of different assemblies, or attempts to establish a position on numerous current issues. Eight handwritten maps showing distribution of schools supervised by the Commission of National Education within departments, as well as numerous universals and decrees are also worth noting.

The manuscript heritage of Professor Marian Tyrowicz is preserved in three Cracow’s institutions: The Archives of Science of the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Polish Academy of Sciences, The Scientific Library of the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Polish Academy of Sciences and in the Library of the History Department of the Pedagogical University. His materials are also preserved in the Ossoliński National Institute in Wrocław. Marian Tyrowicz (1901–1989) was a historian, teacher of secondary schools, university lecturer, since 1955 he had worked in the Pedagogical College in Cracow. His research covered universal history and history of Poland of the 19th century, he was an archivist, newspaper expert, source materials editor and author of many publications and articles. The biggest amount in volume (about 20 metres of files) belongs to the Pedagogical University due to Professor Tyrowicz’s strongest connection with it. The files were purchased from the widow, Regina Tyrowicz, in 1990. This heritage has not been fully inventoried. The materials of Professor Tyrowicz in the Archives of Science of the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Polish Academy of Sciences were endowed by Professor himself in 1976. After being rearranged, 29 files were acquired and 66 files were passed by the widow in 1990. The Scientific Library of the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Polish Academy of Sciences possess Iconographic Files of Professor Marian Tyrowicz, purchased in 1988. They encompass 11 thick volumes, and the other 3 are in the files. Professor Tyrowicz’s scientific correspondence is kept in the Ossoliński National Institute in Wrocław. The manuscript heritage of Professor Marian Tyrowicz serves the researches of many branches of science connected with the issues that he was preoccupied with all his life.

In addition to the testament left by the deceased, it was necessary to prepare an estate inventory of his possessions in order to finalise the details of the inheritance. This was a legally-valid document and its preparation was closely defined by the rights concerning a given level of society, with its range depending on the material status of the deceased as well as the meticulousness of the person preparing the inventory.
The published inventory of Jan Miłoszewski, treasurer of the Ciechanow area and a bailiff of the Krakow county who deceased in 1725, was recorded in the local Krakow records. It depicts the estate of the nobleman from Lesser Poland and testifies to the possession of, among others, equipment and various types of weapons,  ssential in the life of a man of his social status, as well as objects connected with agricultural and domestic life. It is worth paying attention to the vast library, almost certainly to a large extent inherited from previous generations of his family, but also useful for carrying out social functions. The material wealth described in the inventory suggests that it was collected by generations of the family. Although little information remains about J. Miłoszewski, the large number of entries he made in court records as a bailiff testify to his placement among the hierarchy of the gentry in Lesser Poland.

Recollections of all sorts constitute an important supplementary historical source. The authors of this article, historians – Dr hab. Ewa Danowska and Piotr Świątczak – have edited the interesting recollections of the Rev. Dr Jan Twardowski from the period of his service in the Austro-Hungarian army from 1894 to 1895. They form part of his voluminous legacy deposited in the Special Collections Department of the Scientific Library of PAU and PAN in Cracow. They are very illuminating.
Having completed his education at the Austro-Hungarian Higher Gimnazjum (Secondary School) in Bochnia, Jan Twardowski served in the army for one year as a volunteer in the 13th ‘Guidobald Starhemberg’ Galician Infantry Regiment stationed in Cracow. He was quartered in the Archduke Rudolf barracks.
The hero of the present paper has left behind a comprehensive characterization of this period of his life. He describes in detail the course of his service in the partitioner’s armed forces and his adventures at that time; he also shares with posterity his private experiences and reflections and depicts the relations between the officer cadre and the rank-and-file soldiers.
These recollections form part of Jan Twardowski’s memoir written down late in life. He writes, among other things, about his childhood (he was born in 1873), his schooldays, his studies at the Jagiellonian University, and his work as a catechist and teacher in a secondary school; we can also learn about a suspension imposed on him, his struggle for the right to his pension, and the later fate of Jan Twardowski as a mature man. The paper additionally discusses the general question of military service for Poles from Galicia in the Austro-Hungarian army.

In ancient Poland Crown lands constituted the “bread for the praiseworthy”, and they were granted by the king for broadly defined services for the mothercountry. Leasing and managing these properties was very profitable – after making the payments due to the Treasury, a Starost (a head of a district) would keep the rest. Thus, the starosts would try to maximise their profits. Studying the history of the districts one should make a note of the enforcement movement from the second half of the 16th century whose objective was to limit the free distribution of the state properties, a phenomenon characteristic of the Jagiellonian dynasty which tried to strengthen its position on the throne of Poland. Pursuant to the decision of the Sejm, from time to time the inspections of the respective districts were carried out, and the appointed (and sworn to office) inpectors made inventories of the properties and checked whether the starosts fulfilled their financial obligations to the Treasury regularly and accurately. One of the several hundred of districts of the Republic of Poland was the Mościska district, within the Przemyśl lands, in the Ruthenian Voivodeship, at first rich, but later ravaged due to the frequent Tatars’ raids.The inspection carried out in 1627 provides the picture of that district, the town of Mościska and the neighbouring villages. The annex includes this document, preserved as a copy from 1713. What must be emphasised is its importance for the research not only into the districts themselves but into the history of the eastern territories of Poland.