TOMASZ NIEWODNICHACSKI COLLECTION OF THE ANCIENT MAPS. THE EXPOSITION IMAGO UKRAINAE. ANCIENT MAPS OF UKRAINE FROM T. NIEWODNICHACSKI COLLECTION

R.I. Sossa1, O.V Onyschak2

1 - State Service of Geodesy, Cartography and Cadastre of Ukraine

2 - State Scientific and Production Enterprise "Kartographia"

admin@ukrmap.com.ua

 

With the flow of time ancient maps more and more often become a subject of scientific interest and collectors’ attention.

Tomasz Niewodnichański is a well-known Polish collector, who has been collecting cartographic works, archive documents, manuscripts,  writing scientific works in the history of cartography in the course of over 30 years. The scholar collects archive materials (ancient parchments and paper documents, manuscripts, correspondence of cultural workers and statesmen, old editions, rare books, postcards) and cartographic works (ancient maps and plans, city sights, atlases).    

Tomasz Niewodnichański started to collect maps in 1969, buying them in different corners of the world. The main sources had been auctions.

Cartographic collection of Tomasz Niewodnichański was at first limited to maps and city plans of ancient Poland, Lithuania, West Prussia, Silesia, Pomerania and Ukraine. This collection contains nearly three and a half thousand copies. Most of the maps were published before 1815. Later the geography of Niewodnichański’s collection included areas beyond the limits of Rzecz Pospolita. Apart from maps the collection contains over 100 atlases, including many rare ones.    

Exhibits from the Bitburg collection had been represented at different exhibitions many times. The owner of the collection Dr Tomasz Niewodnichański calls holding such exhibitions in different countries “Brǖckenbau” (a German word denoting “building of bridges”), meaning attempts at international dialogue.    

Exposition IMAGO UKRAINAE. ANCIENT MAPS OF UKRAINE FROM THE COLLECTION OF TOMASZ NIEWODNICHAŃSKI will be held in 2007 in Ukraine in Kyiv, Kharkiv and Lviv. There 650 maps representing the territory of Ukraine  (from the first ever printed Ptolemaic of the end of the 15th century to the maps of the 19th century) will be exhibited.      

The thorough catalogue was published for the exhibition with detailed description in Ukrainian, Polish and English of all exhibited maps.