Kazimiera Maleczynska became the editor-in-chief of “Roczniki Biblioteczne” in 1979, after the resignation of the periodical’s founder, Antoni Knot, though official nomination was put off for a long time. She held this post until 1996 and remained member of the editorial team till the end of her life. The article examines Kazimiera Maleczynska’s actions as editor, her efforts to maintain quality and national circulation in times of crisis and political transformation.
Kazimiera Maleczynska (1925-2010) conducted research into various areas of historical bibliology. She recognised the need for more general approaches, which, as she recommended, should be achieved by means of the “small steps” method: monographs concerning various issues (periods, areas, institutions and people). Her own research dealt mostly with old libraries, examined with regard to various aspects and temporal frameworks, in full social, political and cultural context. She devoted most of her attention to Renaissance municipal book collections in Poland and Silesia, as well as to the role of books in Poland during the partition period (1795–1914). Maleczynska analysed the conditions in which book collections were compiled (publishers’ offer, ideological climate, owners’ interests and wealth), as well as their organisation and history. She focused in particular on the use of the collections and on readership (The reception of French books in Wroclaw in the 16th century, 1968; Reading interests of Lower Silesian burghers during the Renaissance, 1982). Professor Maleczynska was particularly interested in the book culture in Silesia.
In the 1950s Kazimiera Maleczynska, as one of the first scholars after WWII , began to study the history of papermaking in Silesia, eventually writing the book Dzieje starego papiernictwa slaskiego [The History of Old Papermaking in Silesia] (Wroclaw 1961). To this day it is the most complete work on the history of papermaking in Silesia from the 15th to the 19th century, containing, among others, a lot of information about the Duszniki paper mill. Inspired by Kazimiera Maleczynska, the Museum of Papermaking in Duszniki began to collect sheets of paper with water marks. Today, the collection has over 5000 items and is the biggest collection of watermarked paper in Poland. In 1968, using Kazimiera Maleczynska’s materials, the Museum organised an exhibition illustrating the history of papermaking in Silesia, an exhibition that survived nearly 30 years with just minor changes.
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