Incunables

Інкунабули (першодруки) Наукової бібліотеки Львівського національного університету імені Івана Франка: каталог = Incunabula Bibliothecae Universitatis Leopoliensis: catalogus / Львівський національний університет імені Івана Франка, Наукова бібліотека; [уклав Ф. П. Максименко; передмов. Ф. П. Максименко; упоряд. М. Ільків-Свидницький, В. Кметь; вступ. стаття М. Ільків-Свидницький, В. Кметь;]. – [Вид. 2-ге розшир. та допов. – Львів: ЛНУ імені Івана Франка, 2011. – 122 с., іл.

The incunabula collection of Lviv University dates back to the year 1784, when it was replenished with the collection of Pius Nicolaus Garelli. During the years 1784–1786, the University book collection received the books from 147 monasteries closed as a result of the secularization policy of Emperor Joseph II of Habsburg. As of 1786, the incunabula collection of Lviv University comprised more than 600 titles. The rules of book acquisition were later revised: especially valuable incunabula were handed over to the Imperial Court Library in Vienna. Thus, the total number of incunabula reduced to 541 titles. After the fire of 1848, only 205 incunabula were undamaged. During 1890–1912, only 9 incunabula were
purchased.
Research of the incunabula collection of Lviv University Library was launched in the first quarter of the 20th century. Eugeniusz Barwiński was the first incunabula cataloguer. The catalogue published in the year 1912 set the pattern for the Polish incunabula studies. After the book collection of the widow of Józef Saba Koziebrodzki was purchased in the year 1938, the University Library received 104 incunabula that laid the foundation for the «Catalogue of Incunables» by Anna Jędrzejowska and Rudolf Kotula, while 19 titles were obtained as a result of the exchange of duplicates. As of 1939, the incunabula collection of the University Library comprised 336 titles, while in the year 1940 it was expanded with five more books. The Second World War impeded the publication of the catalogue by A. Jędrzejowska and R. Kotula. In 1940, Oleksandr Barvinskyi, Director of Lviv University Library, strived to have the Soviet authorities publish the catalogue in two languages – Polish and Ukrainian, but the attempt failed. In 1947, Ukrainian bibliographer Fedir Maksymenko discovered the fragments of a proof leaf and the correspondence concerning the catalogue publication dating back to the years 1939–1940. The German occupation of Lviv left an imprint on the University Library foundation – 336 incunabula were taken. As of 1 August 1952, the Scientific Library foundation contained 40 titles of incunabula (44 stock units).
The post-war «Incunabula Catalogue of Lviv University Scientific Library» by Ukrainian bibliographer Fedir Maksymenko immediately became a notable event in the Ukrainian incunabula studies. F. Maksymenko worked in the University Scientific Library
since 1946; it was then that the work upon the catalogue started. At that moment, the Library possessed the largest incunabula collection among the university book collections in Ukraine. The bulk of the catalogue by F. Maksymenko consisted of the alphabetical list of
incunabula with the detailed bibliographical entries, and a highly-structured information retrieval apparatus. Another important part of the catalogue was the list of the incunabula from other collections in Lviv, which, undoubtedly, increased the value of the publication. Actually, it was an attempt to compile a joint catalogue of incunabula, assessing the state of respective collections in Lviv. In the foreword, Fedir Maksymenko stated that in 1958, Lviv
University Library contained 40 titles (48 stock units).
During the years 1958–2008, the Library did not buy a single incunabulum. During 1996–2007, Natalia Shvets, Head of F. P. Maksymenko Department of Manuscripts, Incunabula, and Rare Books (in 1983–2007), and her colleagues attributed the fragments of books of the 15th century, and several incunabula unknown to the university bibliographers. As of 2011, the Scientific Library of Lviv Ivan Franko National University contains 54 incunabula. For the time being, the incunabula catalogue by F. P. Maksymenko remains the only description of the incunabula collection of Lviv University Scientific Library.
The primary purpose of this publication is to reproduce the aforementioned catalogue in the form, in which Fedir Maksymenko wanted to see it, but did not get a chance to. Republication of the incunabula catalogue by Fedir Maksymenko is based on the following principles:
•  correspondence to the content of the original document, the author’s language peculiarities being preserved;
•  four incunabula illustrations out of those presented by F. P. Maksymenko are reproduced in colour; one incunabula illustration is black-and-white; 31 colored illustrations are added;
•  the captions to the illustrative material give the index numbers of respective incunabula in the alphabetical list of F. P. Maksymenko;