On September 20th, 2011, the Jagiellonian Library co‑hosted the 27th Congress of the International Association of Bibliophiles. On this occasion, a special album was published, presenting the treasures of several departments of the Jagiellonian Library.

Among the most valuable objects, there are the oldest medieval manuscripts, e.g. 11th‑century pontifical, richly illuminated 15th‑century prayer books, valuable autographs, among others by Nicolaus Copernicus, Johann Sebastian Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Ludwig van Beethoven. There are also presented test prints from Johannes Gutenberg's printing shop in Mainz, as well as works by Albrecht Dürer and Rembrandt preserved in the graphic collections.

The thumbnail above presents a fragment of an illustration from the "Gladiatoria" manuscript (Germany, first half of the 15th  century). The manuscript is a manual of the art of fencing. Beside the text, there are 116 colour drawings bearing the hints of influence of an illuminating workshop from Bavaria or Vienna. The drawings illustrate the various methods and ways of fighting described in the text. The miniatures are characterized by intense colours and emerging lighting effects, which were achieved by sparing use and deepening of colours. The leather binding with gilding dates from the 19th  century.

Album "The Jagiellonian Library. A Bibliophile's Treasure House" was prepared by librarians from the Jagiellonian Library and published by the Bernardinum Publishing House, which specializing in album and facsimile editions. The edition of the book in a bilingual Polish‑English version makes it also available to foreign readers.

Biblioteka Jagiellońska. Skarbiec bibliofila (The Jagiellonian Library. A Bibliophile's Treasure House), Kraków 2011.

Access to the digital version is possible from computers located within the Jagiellonian Library.

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