For the convenience of researchers and for the security of frequently consulted reference works, some 500 titles relating to Poland are assigned permanently to the European Reading Room (ERR). Shelved according to LC subject classes, this miniature Polish Library provides easy access to selected encyclopedias, dictionaries, statistical handbooks, country studies, gazetteers, bibliographies, histories, and other research tools.
Among general encyclopedias in the ERR, three deserve mention: a handsome 1984 reprint of the 28-volume Encyklopedyja powszechna published by S. Orgelbrand in 1859-1868; the 22- volume Wielka ilustrowana encyklopedja powszechna (Krakow: Wydawnictwo "Gutenberga," 1929-38); and the 13-volume Wielka encyklopedia powszechna PWN(Warsaw: Panstwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, 1962-70).
Frequently visited by genealogy researchers, the ERR offers several classic works on Polish noble lineage and heraldry, including Adam Boniecki's 16-volume Herbarz polski: wiadomosci historyczno- genealogiczne o rodach szlacheckich(Warsaw: Gebethner i Wolf, 1899-1913) and a 1979 reprint of Kasper Niesiecki's Herbarz polski (Leipzig: Breitkopf & Haertel, 1839- 1846). The reprint contains supplementary materials and splendid color illustrations of numerous coats of arms. Genealogists also will find in the ERR Jan Stanislaw Bystron's classic works on Polish given and family names. Another resource of interest to genealogists, as well as biographers and historians, is the multivolume encyclopedic dictionary of Polish biography,Polski slownik biograficzny. Begun in 1935, this monumental work now is roughly two-thirds complete.
Researchers make heavy use of the ERR's 1975-1977 reprint of Filip Sulimierski's Slownik geograficzny Krolestwa Polskiego i innych krajow(Warsaw: 1880). The definitive work on the complex problem of Polish place names, this 15-volume classic provides detailed descriptions of the history, economic assets, and administrative subordination of cities, towns, and villages throughout the territory of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Complementing Sulimierski's work is Stanislaw Rospond's Slownik nazw geograficznych Polski zachodniej i polnocnej, also available in the ERR.
Reflecting the strengths of the Library's overall Polonica collection, the ERR Polish shelves contain more titles on history than any other subject. A number of these works are in English, including Norman Davies's God's Playground: A History of Poland (New York: Columbia University Press, 1983); The Cambridge History of Poland, edited by William Fiddian Reddaway (Cambridge: The University Press, 1941); Adam Zamoyski's The Polish Way: A Thousand-Year History of the Poles and Their Culture (New York: F. Watts, 1988); Piotr Wandycz's The Lands of Partitioned Poland, 1795-1918(Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1974); Oskar Halecki's Poland (New York: F. A. Praeger, 1957); Stanislaw Mikolajczyk's The Rape of Poland: Pattern of Soviet Aggression(New York: Whittlesey House, 1948); Jan B. De Weydenthal's The Polish Drama, 1980-1982(Lexington, Mass: Lexington Books, 1983); and Roman Laba's The Roots of Solidarity(Princeton: 1991).
Many of the Polish-language histories in the ERR relate to the Polish experience during World War II, e.g., the ten-volume Wojsko Polskie: krotki informator historyczny o Wojsku Polskim w latach II wojny swiatowej, edited by Stanislaw Komornicki (Warsaw: Wydawnictwa Ministerstwa Obrony Narodowej, 1965-87); Henryk Batowski's Polska dyplomacja na obczyznie 1939-1941 (Krakow: Wydawnictwa Literackie, 1991); and Andrzej Leszek Szczesniak's Katyn: lista ofiar i zaginionych jencow obozow Kozielsk, Ostaszkow, Starobielsk(Warsaw: Wydawnictwa Alfa, 1989).
Among the ERR's key reference works on Polish cultural history, including its popular roots, are Jan Stanislaw Bystron's two-volume Dzieje obyczajow w dawnej Polsce(Warsaw: Nakl. Trzaski, Everta i Michalskiego, 1933); Aleksander Bruckner's two- volume Encyklopedia staropolska(Warsaw: Nakl. Ksiegarni Trzaski, Everta i Michalskiego, 1939); Julian Krzyzanowski's Slownik folkloru polskiego(Warsaw: Wiedza Powszechna, 1965); the multi-volume Atlas polskich strojow ludowych edited by Jozef Gajek (Lublin: Nakl. Polskiego Tow. Ludoznawczego, 1949-1988); Boleslaw Klimaszewski's An Outline History of Polish Culture, translated by K. Mroczek (Warsaw: Interpress, 1984); and Bogdan Suchodolski's A History of Polish Culture, translated by E. J. Czerwinski (Warsaw: Interpress, 1986).
The ERR also provides a good starting point for a study of the history and contributions of the once thriving Jewish community of Poland. Key works include Gershon David Hundert's The Jews in Poland and Russia: Bibliographical Essays(Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1984); Aleksander Hertz's Zydzi w kulturze polskiej [also available in English] (Paris: Instytut Literacki, 1961); Maurycy Horn's two-volume Regesty dokumentow i ekscerpty z Metryki Koronnej do historii Zydow w Polsce, 1697-1795(Wroclaw: Zaklad Narodowy im. Ossolinskich, 1984); and Bernard Dov Weinryb's The Jews of Poland: A Social and Economic History of the Jewish Community in Poland from 1100 to 1800. All of these works contain extensive bibliographies.
As a small sampling of the Library's extensive holdings on the history of the Polish American community, the following key works are available in the ERR: Miecislaus Haiman's classic Polish Past in America, 1608-1865(Chicago: The Polish Roman Catholic Union Archives and Museum, 1939) and Kosciuszko in the American Revolution(New York: Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences, 1943); George Simor's Guide to the Archives of the Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences of America(New York: The Institute, 1988); Joseph W. Zurawski's Polish American History and Culture: A Classified Bibliography (Chicago: Polish Museum of America, 1975); Frank Renkiewicz's The Poles in America 1608-1972(Dobbs Ferry, NY: Oceana Publications, 1973); and Joseph Anthony Wytrwal's America's Polish Heritage: A Social History of the Poles in America(Detroit: Endurance Press, 1961).
The ERR offers researchers a good introduction to the Polish plastic arts with such references as the multi-volumePolska bibliografia sztuki 1801-1944, edited by J. Wiercinska and M. Liczbinska (Wroclaw: Zaklad Narodowy im. Ossolinskich, 1975- 1986); Stanislaw Lorentz's Przewodnik po muzeach i zbiorach w Polsce (Warsaw: Interpress, 1982); Adam Milobedzki's Zarys dziejow architektury w Polsce (Warsaw: Wiedza Powszechna, 1978); and Edward Rastawiecki's three-volume Slownik malarzow polskich, tudziez obcych w Polsce osiadlych lub czasowo w niej przebywajacych (Warsaw: nakl. autora, 1850-1857).
Among the rich collection of works on literary studies, linguistics and lexicography, a few titles merit attention: Alexander Bruckner's Slownik etymologiczny jezyka polskiego (Warsaw: Wiedza Powszechna, 1970); the 11-volume Academy of Sciences' Slownik jezyka polskiego, edited by Witold Doroszewski (Warsaw: Wiedza Powszechna, 1958-1969); Stanislaw Skorupka's Slownik frazeologiczny jezyka polskiego (Warsaw: PWN, 1974); Julian Krzyzanowski's A History of Polish Literature, translated by D. Ronowicz (Warsaw: PWN, 1978); Czeslaw Milosz's The History of Polish Literature(New York: Macmillan, 1969); and Lewlaw Bartelski's Polscy pisarze wspolczesni: informator 1944-1974(Warsaw: Wydawnictwa Artystyczne i Filmowe, 1977). A useful source of literary quotations is Ksiega cytatow z polskiej literatury pieknej od XIV do XX wieku, compiled by P. Hertz and W. Kopalinski (Warsaw: Panstwowy Instytut Wydawniczy, 1975).
Poland's distinguished bibliographic tradition is reflected in the ERR collection by the Estreicher family's classic 40-volume Bibliografia Polska, covering the period 1455-1900; Wiktor Hahn's Bibliografia bibliografij polskich do 1950 roku-(Wroclaw: Zaklad Narodowy im. Ossolinskich, 1966); Janina Hoskins's Early and Rare Polonica of the 15th-17th Centuries in American Libraries: A Bibliographical Survey (Boston: G. K. Hall, 1973); Jan Wepsiec's Polish Serial Publications, 1853- 1962(Chicago: 1964); Witold Taszycki's three-volume Bibliografia onomasytki polskiej (Krakow: Naklad Uniwersytetu Jagiellonskiego, 1960-1983); and Jan Kowalik's five-volume Bibliografia czasopism polskich wydanych poza granicami Kraju od wrzesnia 1939 (Lublin: Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski, 1976-1988).
ERR visitors will find a representative selection of publications from the Polish Main Statistical Bureau, including the most current yearbooks not yet available in the general collections. The works provide statistical data on a range of topics, including economic performance, demography, education, environmental issues, and publishing activity.
The ERR has custodial responsibility for current, unbound Polish- language serials and newspapers. The Library currently receives more than 25 Polish-language daily and weekly newspapers. Older newspapers are microfilmed and accessible in the Newspaper and Current Periodicals Reading Room in the Madison Building. Roughly 200 Polish titles are listed in the guide to the Library's microfilmed East European newspapers. Bound periodicals are shelved in the general collection according to subject class.
The ERR also offers a representative cross-section of independent publications dating from the mid-1970s through the demise of the communist regime. Access to this material is facilitated by Z. Kantorosinski's The Independent Press in Poland 1976- 1990. An enlarged and updated version of the bibliography was placed online in 1996. In the Microform and Electronic Resources Center (Jefferson Building), researchers will also be able to access a commercial microfiche collection of Polish Independent Publications based on the holdings of Radio Free Europe and the Polish Library in London.
