Biblioteki kapituł katedralnych w Gnieźnie i Poznaniu w XV i pocz. XVI wieku

The article presents the role of books in two important chapter centres of the former Poland, Gniezno and Poznań, in the period between the 1430s and the 1530s. It is based on the source extracts from the chapter records made by Boleslaw Ulanowski. The aim of this paper is, apart from the presentation of author’s fi ndings, a summary and systematization of the information about libraries of the chapters, which to some extent has already been introduced into science. The article is divided into two parts. The fi rst focuses on the library of Gniezno, the other Poznań. Each of the two parts begins with the issues of the premises in which the collections were deposited. Next, the author continues to discuss in detail the issues of increasing the book collection (gifts and testamentary legacies), its content, maintenance, and borrowing as well as carers and users, both from inside the chapter, as well as outside it. The source quotations, given in extenso, play an important role; they have not been mentioned in the literature since B. Ulanowski’s publication. The introductory part of the paper discusses the previous literature on the issues of the Polish cathedral chapter libraries.