The Book as Gift: Donors and Gifts to the Lyceum or Imperial Reference Library of Ljubljana between 1774 and 1860

Abstract

The paper surveys the donors and their gifts to the Lyceum or Imperial Reference Library. The gifts are entered as separate collections, recorded in the oldest volume of accession books (till 1860) or cited in the Geschichte der Entstehung und Verwaltung der k. k. Studien-Bibliothek in Laibach [History of the Imperial Reference Library in Ljubljana] by Konrad Stefan. In addition to the individuals and institutions recorded by name in the sources, we seek to identify unnamed donors as well, examining the information on the previous owners as available in the donated books. There follows an analysis of the share represented by the gifts, of their contents and their significance for the development of the former Lyceum or reference library in Ljubljana until 1860.