We are interested in books originating from the private library of Sigismund II Augustus, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania. These volumes are among the most evocative survivals of Renaissance collecting in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
Research published in Knygotyra and catalogued through Vilnius University records describes surviving books from Sigismund II Augustus’s personal collection in the Vilnius University Library, documenting their bindings, ownership marks and provenances. The study identifies 14 physical books and 21 publications in composite volumes preserved there, many distinguished by royal supralibros and richly decorated bindings.
Our interest extends to any volume that can be credibly linked to the royal library: books bearing supralibros, ownership inscriptions, binding stamps or documented provenance connected with Sigismund II Augustus. Institutional examples are well known, but volumes in private hands or outside the standard scholarly record would be of exceptional importance.
What we are seeking
Books bearing the royal supralibros; volumes with documented provenance from the library of Sigismund II Augustus; detached or rebound examples preserving original ownership evidence; and related archival material concerning the dispersal of the royal library.