The Radziwiłł Family Library
Collection materials in format
The Radziwiłł Collection of the National Library of Finland consists of a part of the Nesvizh Castle Library of the Polish-Lithuanian royal family of Radziwiłł.
Collection description
The Radziwiłł Collection of the National Library of Finland consists of a part of the Nesvizh Castle Library of the Polish-Lithuanian royal family of Radziwiłł. The Radziwiłł royal family was a significant family in the region of Poland and Lithuania since the 15th century. The family collected a notable library for its Nesvizh Castle. In 1772, the library was transferred to the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences, and part of it, over 1,200 works, was donated to Helsinki in 1829.
The Radziwiłł library and archives were included in the UNESCO's Memory of the World register in 2009. In addition to Helsinki, parts of the Radziwiłł library are located in 9 different European libraries.
In Helsinki, the books from the collection were originally integrated into various sub-collections. Thus far, about 900 of them have been recognised.
Collection languages
Material type
Accrual status
Main collection
Special CollectionsParent collection
Special CollectionsRestrictions of use
Only for Special Collections Reading RoomCollection themes
Cataloguing principles
Volumes identified as coming from the Radziwiłł library have been tagged with the collection identificator "Radziwill-kokoelma", although this is not shown in their shelfmark. It is possible to locate the collection in Helka and Finna by searching by this word.
Catalogue information
More information about cataloguing
Printed catalogue:
Sirkka Havu & Irina Lebedeva, Collections donated by the Academy of Sciences of St Petersburg to the Alexander University of Finland in 1829 : an annotated catalogue. Helsinki University Library Publications 61. Helsinki, 1997.
The collection has been partially catalogued into the National Library Search.
Publication links
Havu, Sirkka, “The Radziwill library and archives”, The National Library of Fin… (opens a new tab)Collection sizes
Provenance
The Radziwiłł Collection of the National Library of Finland consists of a part of the extensive Nesvizh Castle Library of the Polish-Lithuanian Radziwiłł royal family, which was collected by the family since the 15th century after their rise to power. In 1772, after the first partition of Poland, the castle library was transferred to the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences, where it was kept as a separate entity. After the Great Fire of Turku, the Finnish University moved to Helsinki, and the Academy donated its duplicates as well as legal and theological texts to the University Library. Part of this larger book donation, 1,247 works, came from the Radziwiłł Collection. The parts of Radziwiłł Library and archives have been dispersed into 10 different European libraries, which are, in addition to Helsinki, in Moscow, St Petersburg, Warsaw, Minsk, Kiev and Vilnius.
Collector
Helsinki University Library