Polish library (Paris)

The Polish Library was founded in 1838 by Polish public expatriate figures Adam Jerzy Czartoryski , Julian Nemtsevich and Karol Sienkiewicz . The purpose of the organized library was the collection and preservation of Polish books, archives and national relics, preserved after the Polish uprisings in the Russian Empire and brought to European countries by Polish emigrants during the Great Polish emigration. The library collection was provided for use by Polish emigrants and everyone.

The initiator of the library was Karol Senkevich, who proposed to combine the book collections of the Polish Literary Society and the Society for the Support of Science. An important role in the creation of the library was played by the French society Société de Civilization, which, after the publication of Adam Mickiewicz 's article Rabunek bibliotek i muzeów w Polsce (Robbery of Libraries and Museums in Poland), appealed to the French for donations for the creation of the Polish Library.

On November 24, 1838, an act was signed on the creation of the Polish Library, and on March 24, 1839 its grand opening was held. A library council of eight members was created. Adam Jerzy Czartoryski was elected President of the Library Council. Karol Senkevich was elected secretary, librarian and cashier.

It was originally planned to place a book collection in the future Polish House, but due to lack of funds, the construction of this house was delayed and the Library Council decided to buy a separate four-story building for the library on the island of Saint-Louis . The library at that time occupied 11 rooms on the ground floor of the building. Other apartments, to repay the loan for the purchase of the building, were given to tenants.

The library at the first time of its existence was replenished mainly due to private collections, among which the most significant gifts were the book collections of Julian Nemtsevich, Adam Senkevich and Karol Knyazhevich .

In 1845, the Polish Library numbered 15 thousand volumes. In 1848, the library collection already totaled 20 thousand books. In 1914, the library had about 100 thousand storage units. In 1945, the collection of the Polish Library numbered about 145 thousand items, among which were about a thousand manuscripts, twelve thousand prints, 2800 atlases and maps and 20 thousand copies of documents related to Polish-French relations. The collection also contained a collection of photographs, medals and coins.

Since 1903, the Adam Mickiewicz Museum has been operating in the Polish Library.

In 1989, the book collection of the Polish Library numbered about 220 thousand items, about 5 thousand Polish maps and 7 thousand engravings dating from the 16th – 20th centuries.

• Bieńkowska Barbara: Książka na przestrzeni dziejów, Warszawa 2005
• Żukow-Karczewski Marek : Biblioteka przy Quai d'Orleans, Życie Literackie, 2 IV 1989 r., Nr 13 (1932)

• Official website (fr.)