Antoni Bielikowicz, Polish-Latin Dictionary. Vol. I–II [1866]

Title: Polish-Latin Dictionary. Volumes I and II in 1 vol.

Author: Rev. Antoni Bielikowicz (1820–1872) [clergyman, principal of a secondary school in Kraków, author of the largest Polish-Latin dictionary of the 19th century]

Publisher: At the Imperial-Royal Jagiellonian University Press under the management of Ferdynand Schmiedehausen, Kraków

Year of publication: 1866.

Format: 22 cm.

Volume: Vol. 1 (A–O): VI, 930 pp. Vol. 2 (P–Z): [2], 931–2072 pp.

Binding: Period leather.

Kraków 1866: two volumes of the “Polish-Latin Dictionary”—the first part covering entries from A to O and the second, continuing from P to Z—collected in a single massive volume, printed at the C. K. of the Jagiellonian University. The dictionary was first published in installments between 1863 and 1866, and in 1866 it was released as a complete set in two volumes (total pagination: 2,072 pp.). It was created during the implementation of the classical gymnasium curriculum, whose graduates were expected to be fluent in Latin, both spoken and written—hence the wave of school textbooks and dictionaries, among which Bielikowicz’s work stands out for its scope. Scholars place it within the history of Polish lexicography as a link between Samuel Bogumił Linde’s *Dictionary* and the so-called *Vilnius Dictionary*; contemporary studies, while noting that this work has fallen into obscurity, consider it the best of the Polish Polish-Latin dictionaries—boasting the largest number of entries, a clear structure, and abundant examples.

The author, Father Antoni Bielikowicz (1820–1872), is listed on the title page of the work as “Director of the Gymnasium in Kraków.” He died in Lviv at the age of fifty-two, and a newspaper obituary from that period mistakenly listed the title of his work as “Latin-Polish Dictionary.”

The provenance of this piece remains unknown—the volume is free of institutional stamps, ownership inscriptions, and later underlinings in the text.

A must-have for collectors of Polish classical philology, researchers of the history of lexicography, and enthusiasts of prints from the Jagiellonian University Press.

The period leather binding is clean and rigid, with no cracks at the spine hinges, no missing leather, and no deep stains; the corners are straight and firm. The block of this very voluminous book is completely sound and stable; the original stitching supports the weight of the paper flawlessly, the folds are even, and there are no loose pages. The paper is bright, with good stiffness, free of foxing, water stains, and mold, with only rare minor discoloration and minimal soiling natural for its age. The piece is clean and in very good condition—which is quite rare for large dictionaries that have been used extensively by generations of students and scholars.

Catalog ID: 11126x1-22-A-Z