The Rare Book Division's holdings of materials of interest to Polish specialists are extensive and diverse. Janina Hoskins' 1973 work Early and Rare Polonica in American Libraries indicates 270 titles among the Library of Congress holdings dating from the 15th-17th centuries; 121 of these works were found in no other American repository. The Rare Book Division also possesses a rich collection of 18th-20th- century Polonica. Many of these works are to be found in the numerous special collections in the custody of the Rare Book Division, including the well-known Jefferson, Yudin, Russian Imperial, and Rosenwald collections.
The Rare Book Division has a special collection of miniature editions of literary works, including several dozen by Polish writers. Reflecting the composition of the Library's general Polish collection, the largest share of the Rare Book Division's Polonica falls under the heading of history, followed by belles lettres, the physical sciences, and religion. Subject classification of these older works, however, obscures their intrinsic interest to researchers across disciplines. Notable examples of the Library's rare Polonica include the titles listed below which link to fuller bibliographic information in the Library of Congress Online Catalog.
Manifeste de la République confédérée de Pologne, du quinze novembre mil sept cent soixante-neuf / traduit du polonois.La Pologne : telle qu'elle a été, telle qu'elle est, telle qu'elle sera by L'armée du duché de Varsovie by Solennissima manifestatio. Confœderatæ reipublicæ Polonæ, patriæ suæ insinuata, & universis Europæ potentiis, pro informatione præsentis status sui, exhibita. Die 30. julii 1735. anno ... Manifesto solenne. / Della Republica confederata di Pollonia dirett by Reinoldi Heidensteni secr. regii De bello moscouitico quod Stephanus, rex Poloniæ, gessit, commentariorum libri VI by Za drutami : [15 szkiców z KZ.] by Clades Dantiscanorum anno Domini MDLXXVII, XVII Aprilis / a Ioanne Lasicio descripta & emendatius secundo edita, in qua cause belli a Serenissimo Rege Poloniae Stephano contra Gedanenses suscepti referuntur. Accessit satyra Ioachimi Bielscij in quendam ma by Trzy konstitucje polskie; 1791, 1807, 1815. Porównal i róznice jich rozwazyl Joachim Lelewel w roku 1831. by Leven en daaden van Johannes Sobietzki de III, tegenwoordig--regeerende Koning van Polen; mitsgaders de levens en daaden aller voorgaande Poolsche en Hungarische koningen. by Facies rerum Sarmaticarum in facie Regni Poloniae Magniq[ue] Ducatûs Litvaniae gestarum / duabus libris succinctè expressa per R.P. Adamum Naramowski by Orbis Polonvs ... in qvo antiqva Sarmatarvm gentilitia, pervetvstae nobilitatis Polanae insignia, verta & noua indigenatus meritorum praemia & arma specificantur & relucent. Avthore Simone Okolski. by Stanislai Okszyc Orzechowski Roxolani Fidelis subditus, sive, De institutione regia ad Sigismundum Augustum libri duo / quos Fr. Paulus Antonius Radźinski ... publicae luci restituit by Bellum scythico-cosacicu[m]; seu, De conjuratione Tartarorum, Cosacorum et plebis russicæ contra regnum Poloniæ, ab invictissimo Poloniæ et Sveciæ rege Ioanne Casimiro profligatâ, narratio, plenioris historiæ operi præmissa, autore Ioachimo Pastorio by Facts and documents concerning Polish prisoners of war captured by the U. S. S. R. during the 1939 campaign by Poland's case for independence, being a series of essays illustrating the continuance of her national lifeHistoire générale de Pologne / par le chevalier de Solignac. by Simonis Starovolsci Polonia : nunc denuo recognita et aucta. Accesserunt tabulæ geographicæ et index rerum locupletissimus, cum præfatione Hermanni Conringii. by Udział Polaków w zwycięstwie nad faszyzmem : dokumenty, 1939-1945 by Li︠e︡topisʹ sobytīĭ vʺ I︠U︡gozapadnoĭ Rossīi vʺ XVII-Mʺ vi︠e︡ki︠e︡ by Christophori Varsevicii Turcic[a]e quatuordecim. Huis acceserunt opuscula duo : 1. Friderici Ceriole De concilio & consiliariis principis ex Hispanico in Latinum versum vnum, & De legato legationeque eiusdem Varseuicii alterum, omnia his rebus & temporibu by Konrad Wallenrod by Pan Tadeusz; czyli, Ostatni zajazd na Litwie. Historja szlachecka z r. 1811 i 1812, we 12 księgach, wierszem. by Świat = The world / Czesław Miłosz ; a sequence of twenty poems in Polish, translated into English by the poet, with an introduction by Helen Vendler and a portrait of the poet in dry-point engraving by Jim Dine. by Nicolai Copernici Torinensis De revolutionibus orbium coelestium, libri VI : habes in hoc opere iam recens nato, & aedito, studiose lector, motus stellarum, tam fixarum, quàm erraticarum, cum ex ueteribus tum etiam ex recentibus obseruationibus restituto by Introductio in Ptholomei Cosmographia[m] cu[m] longitudinibus et latitudinibus regionum et ciuitatum celebriorum : Epitoma Europe Enee Siluij. Situs et distinctio parcium tocius Asie per brachia Tauri mo[n]tis ex Asia Pij Secundi. Particularior Minoris As by Introductorium co[m]pendiosum in Tractatum spere material[is] m[a]g[ist]ri Ioa[n]nis de Sacrobusto, que[m] abbreuiauit ex Almagesti sapie[n]tis Ptholomei Claudij ... p[er] magistru[m] Joanne[m] Glogouie[m]sem ... feliciter recollectum. by The Poles in the United States of America, preceded by the earliest history of the Slavonians, and by the history of Poland. by The unique materials of the Rare Book and Special Collections Division, now totaling over 1 million items, include books, broadsides, pamphlets, theater playbills, prints, posters, photographs, and medieval and Renaissance manuscripts. At the center is Thomas Jefferson's book collection, which was sold to Congress in 1815. The Rare Book & Special Collections Reading Room is modeled after Philadelphia's Independence Hall. This room is home to the divisional catalogs, reference collection, and reference staff. Collections are stored in temperature and humidity controlled vaults.
