Ossoliński National Institute

The Ossoliński National Institute, commonly referred to as the Ossolineum, is one of the largest and oldest cultural and research institutions in Poland. Established in 1817, it includes the Ossolineum Library, the Princes Lubomirski Museum, the Pan Tadeusz Museum and the Ossolineum Publishing House. The Institute holds an extensive collection of manuscripts and books, including medieval manuscripts, incunabula, prints and drawings, coins and medals, leaflets, magazines, cartography and microfilms. The most valuable objects and collections kept in the Ossolineum include the manuscript of "Pan Tadeusz" by Adam Mickiewicz, as well as other manuscripts and first editions of works written by the greatest Polish authors (e.g. Juliusz Słowacki, Henryk Sienkiewicz, Aleksander Fredro), incunabula and 16th-century early printed books (e.g. Nicolaus Copernicus, Jan Kochanowski), one of the largest collection of ancient coins in Poland, 15th-19th-century drawings by European masters (e.g. Albrecht Dürer, Rembrandt), 16th-18th-century maps of Silesia and Galicia, as well as rare periodicals, leaflets and other ephemera from 1801-1945, including documents on the history, culture and art of Wrocław and Silesia and Lviv and Galicia.