Another recovered manuscript returned to the University of Wrocław
“Antologia poezji tureckiej” (“Anthology of Turkish Poetry”) returned to its parent collection! The manuscript from the Wrocław University Library was stolen between 1964 and 1977!
Restoration activities of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage in recent years have led to the discovery and recovery of almost 700 objects, both war losses and monuments stolen today – said the Minister of Culture and National Heritage prof. Piotr Gliński on 6 November 2023, during a presentation of objects recovered thanks to the restoration activities of the Ministry of Culture.
The Minister reminded us that more than half a million valuable works of art went missing from public, private and church collections in Poland as a result of wars, plunder carried out by the occupants, as well as looting and theft during the post-war chaos.
– From the end of World War II to the present day, especially during the dark days of communism and just after the so-called “breakthrough”, many antiquities from Polish collections have been stolen. The lack of adequate protection, the lack of cooperation with prosecuting authorities in the West and the USA, the Iron Curtain – all this meant that works of art stolen from Polish museums were lost for many years – noted prof. Piotr Gliński.
He emphasised that now we have a much greater ability to track down and protect the objects.
The Vice-Rector for research of the University of Wrocław, prof. Artur Błażejewski, who was present at the conference in Warsaw, emphasises that thanks to the activities of the Department for the Restitution of Cultural Property, we are recovering another stolen object, it is the eighth in recent years. The recovery of the manuscript is particularly important as it is part of a larger collection held at the University of Wrocław – says prof. Błażejewski.
This is the second manuscript from the Wrocław University Library recovered in recent months. Both works were returned by their previous keepers. It should be recalled that in March 2023, a medieval manuscript containing the writings of Marcus Tullius Cicero was returned to Wrocław. It had been stolen from the Library in the 1960s-70s and in 2022 was put up for sale at the Jonathan Hill Bookseller antique shop in New York.
At that time, it was identified by the Wrocław University Library staff as the lost manuscript M 1305, which came from the former City Library, where in 1865 it came from the library at St. Mary Magdalene Church in Wrocław.
The Department for the Restitution of Cultural Property at the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage keeps – in addition to the war loss database – the “National List of Antiquities Stolen or Illegally Exported Abroad”. This list currently contains approximately 12,000 wanted object.
The manuscript “Anthology of Turkish Poetry” was stolen from the Wrocław University Library between 1964 and 1977. According to the ministry, we can only approximately determine when the theft occurred, as cultural institutions were previously so underfunded that they could not research their collections on a regular basis.
The head of the Ministry of Culture pointed out that without the cooperation of museum professionals, hobbyists, diplomats, representatives of the police and prosecution authorities, people who work on the art market in goodwill, and specialised institutions that search for works of art all over the world, it would not be possible to find lost objects.
The manuscript was supposed to be put up for auction in Vienna. Today it is already safe in Wrocław. “The Anthology of Turkish Poetry” with the historical signature M. 1538 is a 16th-century collection of poetry written by a number of authors, mainly in Turkish, but also in Arabic.
The poems were written on a laid paper decorated with floral watermarks in two columns, 17 lines per page. In 1596, the manuscript was gifted by Friedrich von Schliwitz to the collection of the library at St. Mary Magdalene Church in Wrocław. Then it was transferred to the City Library in Wrocław, which was built between 1860 and 1865.
After the end of World War II, the preserved Wrocław library collections, including the manuscript “Anthology of Turkish Poetry”, were placed, for instance, in the Wrocław University Library. The large number of Turkish manuscripts in the former Wrocław collections was the result of frequent interactions between Silesians and Turks. It was also directly influenced by the events following the Siege of Vienna in 1683 and the Siege of Buda in 1686.
From the library records, it is known that the manuscript “Anthology of Turkish Poetry”
M. 1538 was borrowed for the researchers to study the oriental works in Polish collections. Based on this research, it is known that the manuscript was stolen from the Wrocław University Library between 1964 and 1977.
The detailed genesis of the manuscript “Anthology of Turkish Poetry”, presented by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage and the Wrocław University Library, and the identity of the found object confirmed in Vienna, helped the seller to decide to voluntarily return the work to its parent collection.
Translated by Dominika Augustyniak (student of English Studies at the University of Wrocław) as part of the translation practice.
