"A source from which knowledge of national matters could spring". From the history of Wiktor Count Baworowski's publishing activity

Abstract

Galicia, in the mid-19th century, saw the growing importance of patronage from magnates and wealthy gentry, who established libraries and financed printing costs, encouraging authors to publish or work as translators. Count Wiktor Baworowski's activity was similarly patriotic in nature. He pursued it in two directions: firstly, translation and secondly, collection, the everyday basis of which was a deep interest in Polish language, literature and culture. His publishing activity was connected to his translation work, aimed at making world literature and his own collections available to a broader audience. In 1855, he published his translation of Oberon by Christoph Martin Wieland. Then he published two works from his collections, edited by Aleksander Batowski: the Manchester al Mondo print Contemplatio mortis and immortalitatis (Rozmyślania o śmierci i nieśmiertelności) by Henry Montagu (Lviv 1855) and the manuscript of Stanisław Żurkowski's Żywot Tomasza  Zamojskiego (Lviv 1860).