The Library at the Collegiate Church in Kurzelów in the Old Polish period

Abstract

Collegiate book collections from the Old Polish period – and the presented one belongs to them – are quite poorly described. In the case of Kurzelów we are in a rather good situation, since a fragment of the list of books that belonged to the collection in 1765 has been preserved. The inventory consists of 45 items, some of which contain a few books bound together. It seems that the discussed set of authors and works is typical, as far as the circle of collegiate and parish clergy is concerned. Taking this into consideration, it is proper to ask the question if the books were used by the local clergy in their pastoral work, and in the education process in the Kurzelów Collegiate school. Although an attempt to answer the question is hypothetical in its character, it still allows one to form a view of the level of teaching in the local school and of the intellectual formation of the Kurzelów clergy that did not differ much from other, similar centers of intellectual life of the Old Polish epoch.