Polish Memoir Resources

Polish Memoir and Travel Writing Resources

This section was prepared by Barbara Bulat, a reference librarian at the Jagiellonian Library in Krakow, Poland.
Throughout the text the abbreviation OIN refers to Oddzial Informacji Naukowej of the Jagiellonian Library, Krakow.

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Finkel, Ludwik. Bibliografia historii polskiej wspolnie z Henrykiem Sawczynskim i czlonkami Kolka Historycznego uczniow Uniwersytetu Lwowskiego.
Part 1 Lviv 1891
Part 2 notebook 1-4 Krakow 1895-1901
Part 3 notebook 1 - 1904
notebook 2 - Addendum 1 (up to year 1900)
notebook 3 - 1906
OIN Call Number: J 1991

The bibliography includes material for years up to 1815, which was published in monographs or periodicals up to year 1910.

Finkel, Ludwik. (with Karol Maleczynski). Bibliografia historii polskiej.
2nd edition. Vol. 1, Lviv 1937.
OIN Call Number: J 1991a
UIUC Call Number: Polish Reference 016.9438 F47B1956

Zrodla. H: Kroniki, pamietniki, diariusze, relacje, literature polityczna. (p. 349-366)
I : Kroniki, pamietniki, diariusze, relacje, literatura polityczna (p. 366-564)

Bibliografia historii Polski. T. 1: do roku 1795.
Czesc 1: do roku 1454. Helena Madurowicz- Urbanska, ed. Warszawa: PWN, 1965.
OIN Call Number: J 1997
UIUC Call Number: Polish Reference 016.9438 P76B

Selections from three collections of memoirs published up to 1960, and concerning the period up to 1795.

Bibliografia historii Polski. T. 2: 1795-1918. Cz. 1
Helena Madurowicz-Urbanska (ed.)
Warszawa: PWN, 1967.
OIN Call Number: J 1997.
UIUC Call Number: Polish Reference 016.9438 P76B

Selection of memoirs published up to 1960 inclusively, as monographs or in serials.

Bibliografia historii Polski XIX wieku. I: 1815-1831.
Wroclaw: Ossolineum, 1958.
Part one: Materialy ogolne. Chapter III: Pamietniki, korespondencje, zyciorysy.
1: Bibliografie, 2: Materialy biograficzne zbiorowe, 3: Materialy dotyczace poszczegolnych osob. (pp. 24-57).
UIUC Call Number: Polish Reference 016.9438 B471

The chapter contains memoirs, correspondence, description of travel, biographies of persons. The period covered is: 1815-1831. Included are books, articles in journals and collections, published up to 1955 inclusively. Materials concerning the November Uprising, as well as memoirs devoted to special issues, have been placed in thematically appropriate chapters. Subchapter 2 contains collections of biographies and biographical dictionaries, including the basic Austrian, German and Russian dictionaries containing polonica. Each personal entry contains a person's writings (memoirs, correspondence), but also works about that person. Single letters and fragments of memoirs concerning a single issue (such as a single battle) have been placed in thematically appropriate chapters.

Part 8: Powstanie listopadowe. Chapter 3: Wykazy uczestnikow powstania, pamietniki, korespondencje, zyciorysy. 1. Wykazy uczestnikow powstania 2. Zbiory zyiorysow i pamietnikow 3. Pamietniki, zyciorysy i korespondencje poszczegolnych osob (pp. 472-495).

The chapter contains lists of participants in the uprising, collections of biographies and memoirs in chronological order, as well as memoirs, biographies and correspondence of single persons (not only Poles) in alphabetical order by name. Materials within each entry have chronological organization. Fragments of memoirs concerning particular periods of the uprising are listed by that period. Included are books, articles in journals and collections, published up to 1955 inclusively.

Bibliografia historii Polski XIX wieku. II: 1832-1864. Part I.
Wroclaw, Ossolineum, 1968.
Dzial 1. Materialy ogolne. Rozdzial IV: Pamietniki, korespondencje, zyciorysy. 1: Materialy biograficzne zbiorowe. 2: Materialy dotyczace poszczegolnych osob. 3: Wspomnienia anonimowe (pp. 101-376).
OIN Call Number: 2222
UIUC Call Number: Polish Reference 016.9438 B471

The chapter includes books, articles in journals and collections, published from 1832-1965 inclusively.
Subchapter 1 contains alphabetically arranged collections of biographies and biographical dictionaries, as well as selected foreign biographical dictionaries which contain polonica. In subchapter 2 material is arranged alphabetically by name. Under each name of person included are memoirs, correspondence, and critical works. Within each entry the order of inclusion is as follows: bibliographies, memoirs, correspondence, biographical works. Within this division the order is chronological by date of publication. If the biographical material about a person was exhausted in volume I, there is no personal entry in volume II. In the cases where the material is given only partially in volume I, the entry in volume II contains a cross reference to the material in volume I. Memoirs and biographies concerning mainly political, social, cultural or religious events, have been divided into separate sections.

Maliszewski, Edward. Bibliografja pamietnikow polskich i Polski dotyczacych: (druki i rekopisy). - Warszawa: Towarzystwo Milosnikow Historji, 1928, 449 p. [reprint: Warszawa: Wydawnictwa Artystyczne i Filmowe, 1981].
OIN Call Number: J 428
UIUC Call Number: Polish Reference 016.9438 M29B

The notion of a memoir is treated very broadly here. A certain selection is applied, however: short and non-serious items are omitted, in the case of collections of correspondence only the more important letters are listed. Travel descriptions are included if they are old (up to the beginning of XIX century); the author attempts to include many as many as possible descriptions of foreigners travelling in Poland.

The list of memoirs is kept up until October 1928. The bibliography is divided into two groups:
A.--prints and B.-- manuscripts. Group A (4465 items+ 12 additional items) is further divided: chapter I-introduction (bibliography and list of memoir collections), chapters II-XVIII are divided by historical period (separate chapters are devoted to memoirs from Powstanie Listopadowe 1830 and Powstanie Styczniowe 1863). The material within each chapter has alphabetical arrangemeant.

Included are memoirs published separately (monographs) and those published in periodicals (all monthlies and weeklies available to the author, as well as those printed in some dailies-usually Warsaw ones. The list of periodicals consulted is unfortunately not listed).

Section B is comprised of 966 items arranged alphabetically. Information on the manuscript memoirs were taken from the catalogs of the larger Polish libraries and from de visu research in the following Warsaw libraries: Biblioteka Narodowa, Biblioteka Krasinskich, Biblioteka Przezdzieckich, Biblioteka Zamoyskich, and manuscript divisions of a few private collectors. The author consulted also the collections of the Biblioteka Polska in Paris. The bibliography contains a name index.

Chrzanowski, Ignacy. Kilka uzupelnien do Edwarda Maliszewskiego "Bibliografii pamietnikow polskich" (Warszawa, 1928) in Przewodnik Bibliograficzny 1928, p. 496.
UIUC Call Number: Polish Reference 015.438 P958 SER.2

Wasylewski, Stanislaw. "Dopelnienia 'Bibliografji pamietnikow polskich' E. Maliszewskiego. Ruch Literacki R. 6: 1931 nr. 5 p. 152-154 (50 items); R. 7: 1932 nr. 1 p. 27-30 (76 items); nr. 2 p. 61-62 (25 items), nr. 4 p. 119-123 (103 items), nr. 5 p. 149-152 (80 items).
UIUC Call Number: Polish Reference 015.438 P958 SER.2

Ettinger, Pawel. "Dopelnienia 'Bibliografji pamietnikow polskich'. In Ruch Literacki R. 6: 1931 nr.12, p. 309-310. (3 items).
UIUC Call Number: Polish Reference 015.438 P958 SER.2

Skrzypek, Jozef. Bibliografia pamietnikow polskich do 1964 r.
Wroclaw: Ossolineum, 1976, 523 p.
OIN Call Number: J 429.

The bibliography includes memoirs published since November 1929 to 1964 inclusively. Memoirs published in monographic form and in serials are treated separately. Dailies were for the most part not included. The material is divided into four parts:
1. Up till 1918-revises and continues the work of Maliszewski (see above). Included is the material published until 1928 but referring to the period from earliest history until 1918.
2. 1918-1939 -- registers materials from October 1918 until September 1939.
3. 1939-1945 - memoirs from the time of WWII, September 1939-May 1945
4. 1945-1964 - Within each part the organization is alphabetical by author. Items that cover a period larger than that used within the internal organizational divisions of the bibliography, are classified within the part corresponding to the earliest date used in a memoir. The bibliography encompasses 8369 items. Some entries are accompanied by descriptions of the contents and citations of reviews. The bibliography includes indexes: persons, subjects, geographical.

Rocznik Literacki. T. 1: 1932 (druk. 1933)-T.7: 1938 (druk.1939), 1955 (druk. 1956)-1984 (druk. 1991)
Czytelnia Glowna, call nr. D 960 (w/out year 1983).
OIN Call Number: H 1852 (1971-1984).
UIUC Call Number: Polish Reference 891.8505 RO

Within Rocznik Literacki the name of the chapter is "Literatura pamietnikarska: literatura podroznicza". From 1955 the title is "Pamietniki, wspomnienia, listy". The chapter contains an alphabetical list of books on memoir literature which appeared in Poland in a given year, and an article which discusses them.

Bibliografia pamietnikow opublikowanych w 1971 r. Pamietnikarstwo Polskie R. 1: 1971 nr. 2 pp. 191-193; parts 2-3. W. Adamiec, M. Janeczek (eds.) Pamietnikarstwo Polskie R. 2: 1972 nr. 1, p. 204-216, nr. 2 pp. 142-157.

Bibliografia pamietnikow polskich za rok 1972. Pamietnikarstwo Polskie R. 3: 1973 (druk 1975) nr. 1//2 pp. 223-246 (Monographic works; reviews), nr 3//4 pp. 267-298 (Conclusion and reviews in serials)

Bibliografia pamietnikow polskich: Publikacje w czasopismach: II polrocze 1973 r. in Pamietnikarstwo Polskie R. 5: 1975, pp. 394-421.

Bibliografia pamietnikow polskich (I-XII 1974); Monographs (1975) Pamietnikarstwo Polskie R.6: 1976 nr. 1//4 pp. 338-383; R. 7: 1977 nr. 1//4 pp. 287-293.

Bibliography for year 1974 lists about 250 monographic items and approx. 1640 items from periodicals. Bibliography for year 1975 lists 190 items.

Zbiorowe publikacje pamietnikarskie i prace oparte na pamietnikach: (Selected items). Pamietnikarstwo Polskie R. 1: 1971 nr. 1 pp. 183-188.

Adamczyk, Stanislaw; Dyksinski, Stanislaw; Jakubczak, Franciszek. Pol wieku pamietnikarstwa. Warszawa, 1971, pp. 300-305.
UIUC Call Number: Polish Reference 920.002 P756

Selected collections of memoirs and works based on memoirs are included.
Lists 106 items for years 1927-1970.

Cholewa, Krystyna; Jakubczak, Elzbieta. Zbiory Centralnego Archiwum Pamietnikarstwa. In Pamietnikarstwo Polskie R. 7: 1977 nr. 1//4 s. 217-230

Pamietniki w zbiorach rekopisow Narodowego Zasobu Bibliotecznego: Informator o nabytkach.
Wroclaw: Ossolineum [since 1985/86 title changed to Pamietniki w zbiorach rekopisow bibliotek naukowych w Polsce.]
OIN Call Number: ?, Oddzial Rekopisow Call Number: 137

Descriptions of manuscript memoirs acquired within a given year by the Polish research libaries which collect manuscripts and participate in the creation in the Biblioteka Zakladu Narodowego im. Ossolinskich we Wroclawiu, a central database of yearly memoir acquisitions. The guide has an alphabetical arrangement by name of memoir author. Descriptions include: name of the author, biographical information (date of birth/death, profession), title of the memoir, date of creation, dates of described events, list of described historical events, lists of mentioned institutions and organizations, physical descriptions (size in centimeters, number of volumes, number of pages), descriptions of materials attached to the memoir, information on publication of the memoir or its fragments, name of the library owning the item, call number, manner of acquisition. Every few years a cumulative index of persons and geographic names is published. The index groups also authors by profession. From Zeszyt 7 on, the memoirs written for competition are registered under the common name of the "theme" of the competition.

Jakubczak, Franciszek. Zbiory oraz placowki pamietnikarstwa polskiego i polonijnego. Nauka 1998 nr. 3, pp. 1325-140.

Kamolowa, Danuta. Sieniatecka, Teresa. Pamietniki i relacje w zbiorach rekopismiennych Biblioteki Narodowej.
Warszawa: Biblioteka Narodowa, 1998, 575 pages.
UIUC Call Number: Polish Reference 943.800922 P19

An annotated list comprising 976 entries. Indices: persons, institutions, organizations and titles of periodicals, geographic, subject.

Mykita-Glensk, Czeslawa. Memuarystyka w wydawnictwach Instytutu Slaskiego w Opolu. Pamietnikarstwo Polskie R. 7: 1977 nr. 1//4 pp. 273-278.

Discussion of the entries in chronological order, bibliographic information in annotations.

Romiszewski, Eugeniusz. Wzmozona fala wspomnien w literaturze emigracyjnej 1961-1976. Pamietnik Literacki (London) t. 2: 1978. Pp. 48-86.
OIN Call Number: H 2400
UIUC Call Number: Polish Reference 891.85 P192

A general article with extensive bibliographic information. On pp. 79-86: "Aneks: Emigracyjna literatura pamietnikarska, ksiazki wydane w latach 1961-1977". Included are over 160 items in alphabetical order.

Konkursy na pamietniki w Polsce 1921-1966: zestawienie wstepne.
Franciszek Jakubczak (ed.), Warszawa, 1966. Pp. 6-86

Konkursy na pamietniki i podobne inicjatywy pamietnikarskie w Polsce. Cz. 1-2 Pamietnikarstwo Polskie R. 2: 1972 nr. 3 pp. 137-149, nr. 4 pp. 137-158.

Bibliography of Polish Memoirs: Selected books from 1924 to 1978: Memoirs contributed to competitions.
Prepared by Society of Friends of Memoirs, Warsaw: Sisyphus, 1982.
Vol. 2 pp. 203-213.

A chronological list of published memoirs. 168 items listed. Titles in Polish and English.

Przytula, Agnieszka. Bibliografia adnotowana pamietnikow powstalych w wyniku konkursu na pamietniki ogloszonych w latach 1969-1975 przez Wydzial Kultury i Sztuki Urzedu Miejskiego w Kielcach, "Slowo Ludu" oraz Osrodek Kultury Literackiej. In Studia Kieleckie, 1991, nr. 1, pp. 123-151.

List of memoirs in chronological order, contains 135 items. Indices: authors, geographic, institutions.

Wisniewska, Katarzyna. Bibliografia andotowana pamietnikow powstalych w wyniku konkursow na pamietniki. Marta Meducka (ed.). In Studia Kieleckie, 1994, nr. 2 pp. 89-112.

List of memoirs for years 1976-1986 in chronological order, contains 115 items. Indices: authors, geographic, institutions.

Czaplinski, Wladyslaw. Wazniejsze pamietniki polskie XVII wieku: [omowienie] in Pasek, Jan Chryzostom. Pamietniki. Wroclaw, 1968. Pp. XV-XXXIV.
UIUC Call Number: Polish Reference 943.802 P281P1968

Przybos, Adam. Pamietnikarstwo polskie w czasach Jana II Sobieskiego. In Studia Historyczne R. 28: 1985 z. 2 pp. 201-221.
UIUC Call Number: Polish Reference 943.8005 MAL

Kozlowski, Eligiusz. Bibliografia powstania styczniowego.
Warszawa: Wydawnictwo MON, 1964.
OIN Call Number: J 2272. See: Zrodla. D. Pamietniki-wspomnienia (pp. 115-212).
UIUC Call Number: Polish Reference016.9438 K849B

1. Pamietniki - wspomnienia - opowiadania (ogolne)
2. Pamietniki - wspomnienia - opowiadania - relacje dotyczace wypadkow wojennych
3. Materialy biograficzne (wspomnienia - nekrologi - zyciorysy posmiertne). Lists 2000 memoirs related to Powstanie Styczniowe (1861-1865), published in monographic form and in periodicals up till 1961.

Centralny katalog relacji i wspomnien z lat 1939-1945: Indeksy nazwisk i pseudonimow, nazw geograficznych, organizacji konspiracyjnych. 2 vols. Vol. 1- Eugeniusz Duraczynski, Stanislawa Lewandowska (ed.) PAN, Instytut Historii. Wroclaw: Ossolineum, 1972, 264 pp.
Vol. 2 Stanislawa Lewandowska (ed.) PAN, Instytut Historii. Wroclaw: Ossolineum, 1974, 126 s.
OIN Call Number: J 2392
UIUC Call Number: Polish Reference 943.805 C333

The book provides indices to unpublished catalogs of memoirs regarding the period of WWII, housed in 32 institutions: Zaklad Historii Partii przy KC PZPR, Zydowski Instytut Historyczny w Warszawie, Zaklad Historii Ruchu Ludowego przy NK ZSL, Zarzad Okregu/Oddzialu of Zwiazek Bojownikow o Wolnosc i Demokracje n Bialystok, Bydgoszcz, Gdansk, Katowice, Kielce, Koszalin, Lublin, Lodz, Olsztyn, Opole, Poznan, Rzeszow, Szczecin, Warszawa,
Wroclaw, Zielona Gora, Zarzad Glowny ZBoWiD w Warszawie, Pracownia Historii Polski w Okresie II Wojny Swiatowej IH PAN,Wojskowy Instytut Historyczny, Biblioteka Narodowa w Warszawie, Biblioteka Jagiellonska w Krakowie, Biblioteka Glowna Uniwersytetu im. Marii Curie-Sklodowskiej w Lublinie, Biblioteka Uniwersytecka w Warszawie, Biblioteka Uniwersytetu im. Mikolaja Kopernika w Toruniu, Biblioteka Zakladu Narodowego im.Ossolinskich we Wroclawiu, Biblioteka Uniwersytetu im. A. Mickiewicza w Poznaniu, Slaski Instytut Naukowy w Katowicach, Instytut Zachodni w Poznaniu, Centralny Komitet Stronnictwa Demokratycznego w Warszawie.

The catalogs of the above-mentioned institutions were sent to Pracownia Historii Polski Okresu II Wojny Swiatowej Instytutu Historii PAN, (approx. 13, 000 memoirs). The catalog entries were prepared according to a unified format and contain the following information (where applicable): name of the author, pseudonym, profession (trained for and actually performed), function in an organization, place and date of depositing of the manuscript, format of the memoir, size of the work, contents (what period, region, organization, events are described), accessibility to researchers, publication information. Information regarding memoir competitions was not included.

Vol. 1 includes indices (names and pseudonyms, geographical, underground/resistance organizations), indexed are 9 institutions. Vol. 2 contains indices for the remaining 23 institutions, as well as subject catalog to all 32 institutions.

Szarota, Tomasz. "Opublikowane pamietniki, wspomnienia, relacje do dziejow PRL.". In Polska Ludowa t. 3, 1964, s. 233-245.
UIUC Call Number: Polish Reference 914.38 P7673

Lyczywek, Roman. Polskie pamietniki adwokackie. In Szkice z dziejow adwokatury polskiej. Warszawa, 1976, pp. 75-87.
UIUC Call Number: Polish Reference 923.443808 SZ39

Inwentarz materialow do historii wojskowosci polskiej w latach 1918-1939: Dokumenty, relacje, opracowania przechowywane w Dziale Dokumentacji Naukowej W[ojskowego] I[nstytutu] H[istorycznego].
Andrzej Lechowski, Waldemar Strzalkowski (eds.). Warszawa: WIH, 1974.
OIN Call Number: T 441

Chapter "Relacje I wspomnienia", pp. 9-16.-Polacy w republikanskiej armii hiszpanskiej.
p. 33 Wojna obronna Polski 1939, pp. 42-88.

Included are descriptions of materials on Polish military history housed in the Wojskowy Instytut Historyczny. Each entry contains the following information: name of author, description of the contents of the narrative, size of the memoir, call number. There is an index of names of authors and of persons mentioned in the memoirs.

Inwentarz materialow do historii Polskich Sil Zbrojnych na Zachodzie: Dokumenty, relacje, opracowania przechowywane w Dziale Dokumentacji Naukowej WIH.
Andrzej Lechowski, Waldemar Strzalkowski (eds.). Warszawa: WIH, 1977.
OIN Call Number: J 2394
Chapter Relacje I wspomnienia. Pp. 32-45

The inventory contains descriptions of memoirs relating to the Polskie Sily Zbrojne na Zachodzie, housed in the Wojskowy Instytut Historyczny. The information on each entry contains: name of author, description of the contents of the narrative, size of the memoir, call number. There is an index of names of authors and of persons mentioned in the memoirs.

Inwentarz materialow do historii Ludowego Wojska Polskiego: Dokumenty, relacje, opracowania przechowywane w Dziale Dokumentacji Naukowej WIH.
Andrzej Lechowski, Waldemar Strzalkowski, Warszawa: WIH, 1973.
OIN Call Number: T 442

Chapter: Relacje i wspomnienia (sub-chapters: 1. Armia Wojska Polskiego, 2. Armia Wojska Polskiego; Rozne; Polska Ludowa). Pp. 47-96.

The work contains descriptions of materials on the history of the Polish People's Army (Ludowe Wojsko Polskie) housed in the Wojskowy Instytut Historyczny. Each entry gives the following information: author's name, description of the contents, number of pages, call number.

Rudzka, Urszula. Materialy do bibliografii pamietnikow i wspomnien teatralnych 1945-1991. In Pamietnik Teatralny R. 40: 1991 z. 3//4, pp. 716-723.
UIUC Call Number: Polish Reference 792.05 PAM

A list of Polish monographic editions and a selection of émigré publications, for a total of 100 items.

Brozek, Ludwik. Wspomnienia Cieszyniakow.
Warszawa, 1964. Ppp. 240-255.
UIUC Call Number: Polish Reference 943.86 W949

Mikos, S. Wolne Miasto. Gdansk (1920-1939) w dziennikach, pamietnikach i wspomnieniach. Gdanskie Zeszyty Humanistyczne R. 18, 1975, nr. 22, pp. 27-45.

Mykita-Glensk, Czeslawa. "Pamietnikarstwo opolskie". In Studia Slaskie vol. 37, 1980, pp. 389-422.
UIUC Call Number: Polish Reference 943.8006 ST

Michalewska, Maria Teresa. "Zbiory pamietnikarskie, korespondencja i kroniki w Bibliotece Slaskiej w Katowicach. Pamietnikarstwo Polskie. R. 3: 1973, nr. 1//2, pp. 162-166.

Bortkiewicz, Pawel. Zachowanie wartosci moralnych w sytuacjach granicznych: studium na podstawie polskiej lagrowej literatury pamietnikarskiej.
Lodz, 1994, pp. 372-400.

Dunin-Wasowicz, Krzysztof. Pamietnikarstwo warszawskie 1914-1918 [in] Warszawa XIX wieku 1795-1918. Z. 1
Warszawa, 1970, pp. 271-296.

Bibliografia pamietnikarskich varsavianow: (wybrane pozycje). Pamietnikarstwo Polskie 1975, nr. 1//4, pp. 430-437.

Ceglarek, Wanda Krystyna. Bibliografia pamietnikow wielkopolskich 1919-1983.
Poznan: Wydzial Kultury i Sztuki Urzedu Wojewodzkiego w Poznaniu, 1989, 329 pp.

A bibliographic compilation of 1950 memoirs of persons hailing from the Wielkopolska region and related to that region, published in years 1919-1983, regardless of the place of publication. Wielkopolska is understood as the historical Wielkopolska and Kujawy Zachodnie (Bydgoszcz, Inowroclaw). The bibliography does not register memoir literature regarding modern (post 1945) history of lands of the Koszalinskie and Bydgoskie voevodships. Included are all types of memoir literature (dzienniki, relacje, wspomnienia, opisy podrozy, inne wypowiedzi autobiograficzne) published in monographic form, as well as in serials (with the exception of dailies). Bibliography is composed of four parts according to the historical periods they concern:

Descriptions of memoir collections are found at the beginning of each chapter. If a memoir belongs to more than one historical period, the full description is given in the section which is first chronologically, with cross references to other sections. Entries give information regarding persons, towns and historical events. Bibliographies are supplemented by indices: personal names, subject, geographical names.

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