Manuscripts Don’t Burn: Treasures from the National Library’s Vault on Display
‘Dubrovka venit ad Miskonem’ (Dąbrówka arrives at Mieszko’s court) – a manuscript with these words, dating back a thousand years, can be viewed in the halls of the Krasiński Palace in Warsaw. In the spring of 2024, a permanent exhibition was opened there, displaying 170 of the most valuable items from the National Library’s vault.
A national library – written in lowercase letters, as an idea and an institution – exists in most countries around the world. The first national libraries began to appear in the 18th century, and their number grew as the idea of nation-states took shape and became consolidated; at the time, every nation wanted to have its own institution of this type. Interestingly, ‘national libraries’ initially existed primarily to make collections available to citizens (in the 19th and early 20th centuries, many libraries and valuable book collections were privately owned and therefore not very accessible). Only in time were they also tasked with collecting, storing and describing the written heritage of a nation. Today, most national libraries have the right to a so-called mandatory copy, which facilitates building up contemporary stores but does not exempt institutions from expanding their book collections to include historical items.
Collections available to everyone
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National Library, Krasiński Palace (Palace of the Republic), view from Krasiński Garden, Warsaw, photo: Janusz Drzewucki / Creative Commons Attribution–Share Alike 4.0 International
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And it is historical items that are the subject of an exhibition that opened in May 2024 at the Krasiński Palace in Warsaw. The Polish National Library has managed the baroque building since the 1960s, but previously its archives, including the so-called special collections, accessible mostly to experts and researchers, were housed here. In 2021, the National Library, in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, began renovating and modernising the historic Krasiński Palace. A decision was made to change the character of the building, to open it to visitors and make its most valuable collections, priceless works of Polish literature, from the oldest to the most contemporary, permanently available to the public. This unprecedented undertaking has made it possible to return the historic baroque building to the inhabitants of Warsaw and to open up access to manuscripts and printed materials that were previously locked away in library vaults. The description of the investment emphasised that:
the aim of the project is to change the functional and usable space of the palace, to restore the monument to its former glory, to make unique historical and cultural-heritage collections accessible to the public and to strengthen its social and cultural functions for the residents of Warsaw and Mazovia, as well as for guests from other regions of Poland and abroad who are visiting the capital.
Opened at the end of May 2024, the permanent exhibition of the National Library’s valuable collections is arranged chronologically in the rooms of the Krasiński Palace.
‘Epistolae canonicae cum glossa Anselmi Laudunensis’, ca 1120, photo: National Digital Library Polona
Therefore, it begins with the oldest artefact of Polish historiography: Rocznik świętokrzyski dawny (Old Annals of the Holy Cross). It was most likely created in Kraków between 1122 and 1136 and consists of three pages of notes on the last sheets of a codex containing another text: Epistolae canonicae cum glossa Anselmi Laudunensis (Canonical Epistles With Gloss by Anselm of Laudun), from the turn of the 11th and 12th centuries. In two columns, it lists the dates from the year 948 to 1164, with some entries noting events important to Poland. Over a thousand years old, the manuscript still holds many secrets and is the subject of research; it also provides valuable knowledge. From it we learn, for example, of the death of Świętopełk, the Odra (Oder) prince, in 1122 (Zuetopolk dux Odrensis interfectus est) and of Bolesław III Wrymouth’s victory over the Pomeranians in the Battle of Nakło (1109). It also contains information about the baptism of Mieszko.
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‘Evangeliary from Skevra’ (Lviv Evangeliary), 1198, photo: National Digital Library Polona
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Rocznik świętokrzyski dawny is not the only ancient manuscript displayed at the exhibition. Objects valuable to other cultures that are part of the National Library’s collection are also presented. Among them are the 10th-century Codex Suprasliensis (Supraśl Codex), one of the oldest records of Old Church Slavonic and Cyrillic script; richly decorated Turkish and Persian manuscripts; and the printed book Sforziada, a 15th-century Italian Renaissance artefact written by Giovanni Simonetta in the 1470s dedicated to Francesco Sforza, ruler of Milan and founder of the Sforza dynasty. Another valuable historical work, which is precious not only as a literary artefact but also as evidence of the nation’s culture, is the Lviv Evangeliary (Evangeliary from Skevra), created in the year 647 of the Armenian era, i.e. in the year 1198 or 1199 of the Polish calendar. The Evangeliary consists of 426 leaves of vellum and is a translation of the four Gospels into Armenian. It is very richly illuminated and contains painted miniatures, including full-page miniatures depicting the evangelists and scenes from the Gospel painted in the manuscript’s margins.
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‘Cosmographia Claudii Ptolomaei Alexandrini Mathematicorum Principis…’ by Claudius Ptolemy, 1467, owner: Library of Zamoyski Family Entail, photo: National Digital Library Polona
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Old maps are among the most fascinating exhibits for modern viewers, as they illustrate how our European ancestors saw the layout of the seas and continents many centuries ago. Hand copied in Italy in the 15th century, Claudius Ptolemy’s atlas is a collection of maps compiled around 160–180 CE by an astronomer, mathematician and geographer living in Alexandria. Considered one of the first world atlases in human history, it is still the subject of scholarly research. One of Ptolemy’s maps covers Central Europe, which the ancient geographer called ‘Germania Magna’ and described as the land where barbarian tribes lived.
‘Portolan of the Old World’ by Angelo Freducci, 1554, owner: Library of Zamoyski Family Entail, photo: National Digital Library Polona
Among the settlements marked on the map is Calisia, located where today’s Kalisz is. Another map that can be viewed at the exhibition in the Krasiński Palace is Atlas morski Starego Świata (Portolan of the Old World), drawn in 1554 for the sailors of the time by Italian cartographer Angelo Freducci. In addition to depicting the layout of seas, bays, rivers and islands, the author of the map marked not only the most important cities but also… interesting buildings, mainly castles and fortresses.
Book collections of the magnates
Initially, this 15th-century artefact was part of the Library of the Zamoyski Family Entail, one of the oldest and most interesting book collections built up over centuries by a Polish magnate family. One of the valuable pieces belonging to the Zamoyski family, now displayed within the walls of the Krasiński Palace, is Horae Beatae Mariae Virginis ad usum Turonensem (Book of Hours of the Blessed Virgin Mary for Tours [Liturgy] Use), a prayer book belonging to Jan Zamoyski published in 1485.
‘Horae Beatae Mariae Virginis ad usum Turonensem’, Lat. et Gall, 1485–86, photo: National Digital Library Polona
Written in Latin and French, it also contains colourful, full-page woodcuts. After World War II, the Library of the Zamoyski Family Entail and many other similar collections became part of the National Library’s holdings. Another was the Załuski Library collection, considered to be the first national library on our continent. Its founders, the brothers Bishop Józef Andrzej Załuski and Bishop Andrzej Stanisław Załuski, made their collections available to readers on 8 August 1747. Less than four decades later, in 1780, the Załuski Library was renamed the National Library by a resolution of the Polish Sejm.
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‘Antiphonary of Abbot Mścisław’, ca 1395–ca 1400, photo: National Digital Library Polona
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Among the manuscripts presented at the Krasiński Palace is the Statuta Casimiri Magni (Statutes of Kazimierz the Great), known as the Dzików Codex, which comes from the Library of the Counts Tarnowski. It is a collection of earlier royal statutes (sets of laws), including those granted by Kazimierz the Great, Władysław Jagiełło, Kazimierz Jagiellończyk, Jan Olbracht and Zygmunt the Old, written down and translated from Latin into Polish between 1501 and 1523. Over a hundred years older than the Dzików Codex is the Antyfonarz opata Mścisława (Antiphonary of Abbot Mścisław), a work by Benedictine monks from Tyniec created between 1395 and 1400. The document consists of 361 vellum leaves containing antiphons, i.e. songs corresponding to successive parts of the liturgy. The antiphonary was edited by Mścisław, the Tyniec abbot, and the songs in the book have both musical notation and texts. Each song begins with an illuminated initial letter.
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‘Mementos of Tadeusz Kościuszko’, 1792–1820, owner: Library of Zamoyski Family Entail, photo: National Digital Library Polona
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There are many centuries-old written documents on display, but the exhibition does not focus on the oldest periods. Contemporary works are just as much a record of culture as are works from centuries ago, so manuscripts and prints from periods closer to us are also valuable items in the National Library’s collection. A leather-bound portfolio dating from 1792–1820, formerly part of the Library of the Zamoyski Family Entail collection, has quite a contemporary character of a ‘personal file’ and contains loose manuscripts that are documents belonging to Tadeusz Kościuszko. Inside the binding, stamped with the title Pamiątki po Tadeuszu Kościuszce (Mementos of Tadeusz Kościuszko), are letters, notes and memos, contracts, letters of recommendation, receipts of donations, and an envelope with… Kościuszko’s hair.
The exhibition in the renovated and reconstructed interiors of the Krasiński Palace also allows visitors to assess the handwriting of figures much closer to us in time. Among the exhibits are, for example, the manuscript of Druga jesień (Second Autumn) by Bruno Schulz from 1934 and a collection of poems titled W żalu najczystszym (In Purest Sorrow) by Krzysztof Kamil Baczyński, written by the poet’s own hand in 1942. The National Library stores and makes available for viewing the musical score for the film Rosemary’s Baby, a cult work by Krzysztof Komeda created between 1967 and 1968, as well as a late 1960s typescript of the musical Apetyt na czereśnie (Appetite for Cherries), with handwritten notes and comments by Agnieszka Osiecka. The exhibition features manuscripts by Czesław Miłosz, Zbigniew Herbert and Witold Gombrowicz.
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Urn containing ashes of manuscripts & incunabula burned by German army in 1944 in building housing Library of Krasiński Family Entail, photo: National Digital Library Polona
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However, one of the most moving pieces in the exhibition is not a work of literature but an urn containing the ashes of manuscripts and incunabula burned by the German army in 1944 in the building housing the Library of the Krasiński Family Entail. It is material and symbolic proof of how important literary artefacts are for creating a nation’s identity and culture. This is precisely why invaders seek to destroy them first.
Translated from Polish by Agnieszka Mistur
