Handwritten “Bibliografia prawa polskiego od najdawniejszych czasów do roku 1823” [A Bibliography of Polish Law from the Earliest Times up to 1823] by Jan Wincenty Bandtkie-Stężyński in the collections of the Jagiellonian Library

Abstract

Lawyers in the Kingdom of Poland drew attention to the lack of lists of professional literature already at the beginning of the 19th century. Legal literature was so vast that it became a necessity to systematize and compile it in bibliographies. Jan Wincenty Bandtkie-Stężyński (1783–1846), an authority on the history of Polish law, was one of the first scientists to undertake this task. In 1824, he finished working on a retrospective bibliography of Polish law up to 1823. However, his work was not published during his lifetime. After Bandtkie’s death, Kazimierz Bandtkie-Stężyński, his son, made another attempt to publish the bibliography which turned out to be unsuccessful as well. Although Bibliografia prawa
polskiego od najdawniejszych czasów do roku 1823 [A Bibliography of Polish Law from the Earliest Times up to 1823] exists only in the form of a manuscript, it is recognized as the first Polish bibliography concerning law. Bandtkie’s bibliography was novel mostly due to its scope. It covered only legal literature whereas it was registered as a general bibliography at the time. Even though there were some methodological errors, Bandtkie’s bibliography has stood the test of time and it serves as a useful and valid source of information to this day.