The Registry of Books from the Pharmacy of Vilnius University, 1773–1774

Abstract

The Jesuit College (founded 1570) in Vilnius was officially reorganized into a university on 1 April, 1579 by the privilege or charter signed by Spephan Bathory, the King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania. The University pharmacy was established in ca. 1600. Its importance was not limited to providing the local population with medicines - it was also a scientific institution providing education to pharmacists. In 1773-1774, a detailed registry of the property of this pharmacy was compiled. This registry shows that the library of the pharmacy had 405 books. These books were pharmacopeias and writings by classical, Byzantine, and Arabian authors. The library possessed treatises on botany, medical practice, and iatrochemistry. A very interesting fact is that the library kept works by leading authorities in the fields of anatomy and surgery. The majority of the books were in Latin, a few were in German, and 13 books were in Polish. Over a dozen of books were on subjects other than medicine - a few books were on religion, a few on history, and a few were works of fiction. Identification of the books was conducted using the world's largest database of publications - the WorldCat. The aim of this report is to present a survey of books from 1773-1774, stored in the pharmacy of Vilnius University.