Teoria bibliografii w II Rzeczypospolitej

Abstract

The dissertation entitled The theory of bibliography in the Second Polish Republic provides information on the phenomenon that occurs during the time of the formation of the theoretical basis of bibliography. The work has been aimed at describing the evolution of the theory of the discipline of bibliography. Therefore, the elements of knowledge about bibliography were searched in the works of the first Polish bibliographers to focus on the influence of European trends on the crystallization of the theoretical bibliographical thought and the creation of the centres providing schooling in this discipline in the 19th century in the territory of the Republic of Poland (Krzemieniec, Kraków, Warsaw, Vilnius). It has been pointed out the potentiality of the flourishing of the theory of bibliography in the interwar period, and the contribution of the Bibliographic Institute of the National Library and the Association of Polish Librarians (including congresses of librarians) to the discourse on the subject. The plan, which actually did not achieve its implementation, for establishing the Polish Bibliographic Society, as well as the lecture activity of the local groups of the Association of Polish Librarians in the field of bibliography have been characterized, and bibliography considered as a subject taught in higher schools, secondary schools and during library courses has been discussed. The subsequent chapters comprise the analysis of the theoretical statements by representatives of Polish science (including, among others, Ludwik Bernacki, Leon Bykowski, Kazimierz Dobrowolski, Adam Łysakowski, Zygmunt Mocarski, Jan Muszkowski, Kazimierz Piekarski, Mieczysław Rulikowski, Stefan Vrtel‑Wierczyński), in which they acknowledged bibliography as a practical and supplementary field of knowledge (however they did not decide whether it was an independent discipline or part of bibliology), and as a research method. What is another issue addressed in the work is the subject of bibliography, its methods (bringing the concept of bibliography closer to critical bibliography and analytical bibliography), relationships with other fields of knowledge (mainly with the history of literature), typologies of bibliographic lists, and the theory of the types of bibliography (general bibliography and special bibliography, i.e. relating to disciplines and issues, region, contents of magazines). In addition, the work presents biographies of a group of theoreticians of bibliography, with special emphasis onto educational centres, subjects of their studies, their professional work and the first domain of their postdoctoral degrees. The final part of the work contains the analysis of citations of theoretical publications from the interwar period in textbooks, manuals and monographs published after 1945, the results of which show that there was little interest in the reception of pre‑war materials.