In 1939, the collections of the Ossolineum in Lwów (Lviv) consisted of 3,075 units of maps and atlases. After 1945, only 123 items were transferred from Lwów (Lviv) to Wroclaw (about 4% of the pre-war number), so the current collection was formed in the post-war period. The current stock consists of over 10,000 works, i.e. more than 26,000 volumes of atlases and maps. These include works from all periods, from the oldest (from the 16th century) to the most recent, produced using various techniques, both printed and manuscript. Thematically, the Ossolineum collection focuses on historical and contemporary Polish territories, i.e. the pre-partition Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, territories within the current borders of Poland and partly neighbouring areas. Other parts of Europe and the world are represented selectively.
Characteristic groups include maps of Poland from the 16th to the 18th centuries by authors and publishers such as A. Ortelius, G. Mercator, N. Sanson, G. Delisle, J. Covens and C. Mortier, J.B. Homann and his heirs, M. Seutter, G.A. Rizzi-Zannoni and others. Important items are maps of Silesia, among others by S. Münster, M. Helwig, J. Scultetus, as well as 19th century publications by K. Flemming of Głogów, and Galicia, for example a valuable manuscript map by J. Liesganig, made after the First Partition. The collection from the 19th to 21st centuries is also enriched by town plans and numerous thematic maps illustrating political, administrative, demographic, economic and communication issues.
Topographical maps from the 19th and 20th centuries, usually produced by the cartographic services of the respective countries, are important documents. These are mainly works of the Military Geographical Institute, but also Prussian and Austro-Hungarian maps.
The collection of atlases includes three editions of A. Ortelius' Theatrum Orbis Terrarium from 1573, 1579 and 1603, a Venetian study by F.G. Camocia from 1574 and a Dutch maritime atlas by J.A. Coloma from 1642-1646. Old Dutch cartography is also represented by the six-volume Theatrum... published by Blaeu in Amsterdam (1649-1655), French cartography by N. Sanson's atlas edited by A. H. Jaillot of 1692, and German works by J. B. Homann (including the Atlas Silesiae of 1752). Among the 19th century works, there are studies by J. Perthes, A. Stieler, R. Andree, C. Diercke. The collection of the Ossolineum includes general geographic and thematic atlases: historical, economic, religious, ethnic and others.
The nucleus of the Ossolineum collections in 1817 was the private collection of Józef Maksymilian Ossoliński, comprising some 230 maps. It reflected the broad interests of the Institute's founder, including an appreciation of the role of cartography in many areas of social life. A more significant development of the holdings took place after their transfer from Vienna to Lwów (Lviv) in 1827. They gradually increased, mainly through donations and bequests, and by 1939 they accounted for almost 70% of acquisitions. Among the most important donations are the Lubomirski collection (gift of 1868, 485 atlases and maps), the collection of Stefan Koźma (1881, about 500 items), the large set of maps of old Poland by Jan Gwalbert Pawlikowski (1921, 678 maps). As a result, in September 1939, the Ossolineum's collections consisted of 3,075 units of maps and atlases, which made it one of the richest Polish libraries of the time. It is worth noting, however, that these works did not form a separate division or cabinet, but were placed among other prints and manuscripts.
After 1945, only 123 maps and atlases from Lwów (Lviv), i.e. only about 4% of the pre-war collection, found their way to the Library's new location in Wrocław. In this situation it should be emphasised that the shape of almost the entire present collection was given during the last few decades. In organisational terms, they were separated by the establishment of the Cartographic Studio in 1957. Thanks to purchases and donations, the holdings now number more than 9,300 works, which equates to nearly 30,000 volumes of atlases and map sheets.
