Some considerations on the question of the volume of copies of the Statute by Jan Łaski

Abstract

This article discusses the volume of parchment and paper copies of the Statute by Jan Łaski. The problem is approached by the author within two aspects. The one aims at presenting and systemising various opinions, still functioning in the literature, on the number of printed copies. The earliest mention of the printed volume of the Statute, given by Tadeusz Czacki towards the end of the eighteenth century, is challenged and confronted with the present state of knowledge on Jan Haller’s printing office. The tendency to support the view on the low volume of the edition of the Statute in successive publications is discussed and explained. The other aspect of the issue in question is the considerations on the decidedly separate functions that the parchment and paper copies were to perform, their intended use and potentially different financial support for the editions in either writings. In addition, the author gives his own estimations on the probable number of printed copies, using the available sources and the copies of the Statute that have been preserved until our times.