Antoni Brosz’s Collection of Ex-libris

Ex-libris or bookplates, as markers of ownership, are an expression of the bibliophilic interests of the owners of book collections, and of the special care taken of each marked volume. For centuries, they have fulfilled their basic function, namely, to indicate that the volume belonged to a particular person, but over time they have also become an object of collection. Ex-libris peeled off the insides of covers, ones custom-made to be exchanged, individual markers, and whole collections exhibited at auctions and in antique shops have all lost their original function in order to enrich those collections centred on these small markers of ownership. One of the largest private collections in Poland was gathered by Antoni Brosz (1910-1978) – a Kraków bibliophile, collector and translator. Over the course of about 40 years, he accumulated a collection of about 20,000 ex-libris, as well as a rich selection of books on the topic. In 1980, his collection of almost 16,000 marks by both Polish and foreign authors and owners was donated to the Jagiellonian Library. Apart from information about the collection, this article also includes a proposal for its development and description.