Dedykacje rękopiśmienne w książkach z fragmentu księgozbioru domowego poetki Marianny Bocian

Abstract

Dedications in books may be the factor that directs the reception process or, in the case of hand-written dedications, depending on who inscribed them, an element that raises the value of the book. Keeping record of dedications addressed to one person is difficult due to frequent cases of dispersal of the collection after the owner’s death. Since the invention of print, two forms of dedication have been in use: printed and hand-written texts. Printed dedication has undergone changes depending on the functioning of book market, but also on the aesthetic tastes of particular epochs. The form of hand-written dedication has not been affected by significant changes. On the basis of a set of hand-written dedications, copied from the books of a poet from Wrocław, Marianna Bocian, which were donated to the Library of the Polish Department of the University after her death, an attempt has been made to establish the dominant type of address expressions. The analysis of the collected material shows that the authors of dedications most often used the address expressions typical of letters. Authors’ hand-written inscriptions are a valuable source in research on the relations between the participants of literary life.