Section for the Retrospective Bibliography for the 19th and 20th Centuries

Head: Dr Elżbieta Nowosielska

Victoria Gerasimova, MA
Marlena Kapica-Jezierska, MA – Section Secretary
Michał Raczkowski, MA
Katarzyna Sulej, MA
Dr Adrianna Sznapik

Contact: 22 831 02 61 ext. 37–39

The Section (formerly a department) was established in 1953. Its main task is to prepare and publish the Polish historical bibliography of the 19th and 20th centuries, continuing the work initiated by Ludwik Finkel. The members of the section present the output of Polish historians produced after 1815, aiming to provide a comprehensive database of all writings concerning the history of Poland.

Published volumes

• tom wstępny [Introduction]: 1815–1914, ed. S. Kieniewicz, Warszawa, 1954;
• vol. I: 1815–1831, ed. S. Płoski, Wrocław–Warszawa, 1958;
• vol. II: 1832–1864, part 1, ed. W. Chojnacki, Wrocław–Warszawa–Kraków, 1968;
• vol. II: 1832–1864, part 2, ed. W. Chojnacki, Wrocław–Warszawa–Kraków, 1972;
• vol. II: 1832–1864, part 3, fasc. 1, ed. W. Chojnacki, Wrocław–Warszawa–Kraków 1974;
• vol. II: 1832–1864, part 3, fasc. 2, ed. W. Chojnacki, Wrocław–Warszawa–Kraków, 1976;
• vol. II: 1832–1864, part 3, fasc. 3, ed. W. Chojnacki, Wrocław–Warszawa–Kraków, 1979;
• vol. II: 1832–1864, part 3, fasc. 4 (Skorowidze [Indices]), ed. W. Chojnacki, Wrocław–Warszawa–Kraków, 1979;
• vol. II: 1832–1864, part 4, fasc. 1, ed. W. Chojnacki, Wrocław–Warszawa–Kraków, 1982;
• vol. II: 1832–1864, part 4, fasc. 2, ed. W. Chojnacki, Wrocław–Warszawa–Kraków, 1983;
• vol. III: 1865–1918, fasc. 1: Czasopisma, jednodniówki, kalendarze. Zabór rosyjski [Periodicals, pamphlets and calendars. The Russian partition], eds. S. Sokołowska, I. Ossowska, Warszawa, 2000;
• vol. III: 1865–1918, fasc. 2: Czasopisma, jednodniówki, kalendarze. Zabór pruski [Periodicals, pamphlets and calendars. The Prussian partition], eds. S. Sokołowska, I. Ossowska, Warszawa, 2010;
• vol. III: 1865–1918, fasc. 3: Czasopisma, jednodniówki, kalendarze. Zabór austriacki [Periodicals, pamphlets and calendars. The Austrian partition], ed. U. Ścięgosz-Karpińska, Warszawa, 2017.
• vol. III: 1865–1918, fasc. 4: Czasopisma, jednodniówki, kalendarze. Zabór austriacki [Periodicals, pamphlets and calendars. Polish émigrés and diaspora], ed. E. Nowosielska, Warszawa, 2024.

In June 2024, the Section members completed a multi-year project devoted to research on the press of Polish emigrants in 1865–1918, funded by an National Program for the Development of the Humanities grant. The team consisting of: Dr Aleksandra Bańkowska, Marlena Kapica-Jezierska, Dr Elżbieta Nowosielska, Katarzyna Sulej, Dr Adrianna D. Sznapik, Klaudia Wakułowska-Kapcia, with the cooperation of Dr hab. Stefan Gąsiorowski, compiled fasc. 4 of Volume III of the Bibliography of Polish History and a volume of studies entitled Pięć „Ojczyzn” i dwa „Diabły”. Zbiór studiów o prasie polonijnej i emigracyjnej w latach 1865–1918 [Five “Homelands” and Two “Devils”. A Collection of Studies on the Polish and Emigrant Press in the Years 1865–1918]. The publication of fasc. 4 concluded the process of compiling a complete bibliography of Polish periodicals, pamphlets and calendars published between 1865 and 1918.

From July 2022 to July 2024, as part of a grant under the Nauka dla Społeczeństwa [Science for Society] grant, the team of the Section for the Retrospective Bibliography compiled a database of emigration journalists and printers (project manager – Dr Elżbieta Nowosielska). In the future, the materials collected will become the basis for the Dictionary of journalists, editors and printers of emigration in the years 1865–1918. The planned entries list is available [here].

Current projects:

The conceptual and preparatory work on a new volume series of the Bibliography of Polish History of the 19th and 20th Centuries is currently underway. This series will compile reports published in the former Polish territories and by Polish organisations and associations in exile.

The Section is taking part in an intersectional project of the IH PAN entitled „Geografia kulturowo-intelektualna dawnych ziem polskich pod zaborami 1865–1918 – cyfrowe vademecum” [Cultural and intellectual geography of the former Polish lands under the partitions 1865–1918 – a digital vademecum] (financed by the National Program for the Development of the Humanities, project manager – Professor Maciej Górny). One of the anticipated outcomes of the project is the development of an interactive, multifunctional digital application, which will make available, among other things, data on Polish periodicals from fasc. 1–3 of Vol. III of the Bibliography.

The team members are also engaged in individual projects based on the materials obtained during the bibliographic work.