Bibliotekarze, księgarze, wydawcy, bibliofile łódzcy w wydawnictwie słownikowym Oficyny Bibliofilów

Abstract

Between 2001-2004 four volumes in Polish and one collected volume in English of the Słownik biograficzny – Żydzi dawnej Łodzi (The Biographical Dictionary of the Jews from Lodz) were published. Marek Szukalak and Andrzej Kempa, the authors of that dictionary compiled almost 700 biographies of Jews associated with the city of Łódź. A few years later, bibliophile and author of many works on Jewish life in Łódź – M. Szukalak compiled the Słownik biograficzny Żydów łódzkich oraz z Łodzią związanych a follow up to the previous publication which began a further series of books presenting new characters. The Jewish community had eminent representatives in every field of life. Many of whom made a vital contribution to the development of librarianship, printing and publishing in the city of Łódź. The aim of this paper is to analyse the biographies of people connected with the world of books such as the printers, publishers, booksellers, bibliophiles and librarians included in that dictionary. By concerning itself only with the details of Jewish people associated with the production and the popularisation of books, the dictionary nonetheless helps shed light on the role the Jewish minority played in the cultural and the scientific life of the city of Łódź. This study attempts to assess which areas of cultural life, associated with books had the biggest impact amongst the Jews of Łódź.