• 2018-06-29

On April 13, 2018, a privateinstitution in Poland deposited 40 rare editions of its Western language bookcollection to the National Central Library (NCL). Many of these are extremelyvaluable first editions, including an 1843 edition of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, a 1762 edition of Du contrat social ou Principesdu droit politique (TheSocial Contract) by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and a 1637 edition of Discours de la méthode (Discourse on theMethod) by René Descartes.

The collection also includes a copyof William Shakespeare’s Second Folio, printed in 1632. This extremely valuablebook is estimated to be worth around US$50,000 at auction.

The private institution’s currentcollection numbers around 800 titles spanning over 3,400 volumes, comprisingnumerous important books printed between the 15^th and 19^thcenturies. This is the first consignment of the institution’s collection to be transferredto the NCL, and will be gradually added to in future.

There are more than 4,400 volumes NCL’s Westernlanguage collection that are more than a century old. In future the librarywill scan these books and put them online, so that readers can convenientlybrowse them or use them for research.