The year 2017 is special in the history of provenance book marks and of Cracow – 500 years ago, in the Jan Haller’s publishing house, the second known Polish ex libris was produced, intended for marking volumes from the collection of Maciej Drzewicki (1467-1535), Primate of Poland. The first known Polish ex libris also belonged to the above mentioned clergyman, and was created in 1516 in Viennese printing house of Hieronymus Vietor. Both of these marks can be admired in the collections of the Jagiellonian Library.
Such a special anniversary is an occasion to reflect on the proprietary provenance marks, and to indicate an important place in Cracow in terms of this type of activity of artists, art historians, book collectors and bibliophiles.
500-year history of ex libris as an ownership book mark is a rich source of research: from regional issues (e.g. ex libris of Cracow), to Polish and foreign ex libris – their history, contemporaneity, future, and also the place of ex libris in provenance and historical and artistic research, and in the culture of books, topics and issues related to collecting them.
The intention of the organizers is that during the one-day session appeared topics and discussions centered around ex libris as pieces of art and collected objects, as signs of marking ownership of volumes and as element of provenance research; so that attention is drawn to the culture of a mark, around which focus associations of enthusiasts, journals editors and authors of publications concerning them, organizers and participants of competitions and exhibitions. In the end, to make the 500th anniversary a starting point for summarizing the history, discussing the present situation and indicating prospects for functioning of the proprietary mark, which, by going through numerous changes (such as techniques, styles), has almost completely lost its original function.
We hope this meeting will be an opportunity to exchange multi-domain research results, and also a voice of collectors and lovers of ex libris. Aim of the conference will therefore be to look at the small ownership graphic as a piece of art, ownership mark, collected object and a manifestation of the culture of book.
Suggested topics:
- Cracow ex libris – history, contemporaneity, perspectives,
- Polish ex libris – history, contemporaneity, perspectives,
- Global ex libris – history, contemporaneity, perspectives,
- Exlibrisology as a science,
- Ex libris as an object of provenance research,
- Collections, associations, publishing houses,
- motifs,
- techniques.