Books on History and Law of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in Library of Jesuit Colledge in Sambir

Historic and law disciplines played an important role in the Jesuits system of education. However, history performed only an auxiliary function in relation to rhetoric and served as a source of «erudition». Ratio Studiorum, the main educational document of the Jesuits, emphasizes the importance of reading ancient authors. Such disciplines as history and classical law (with the exception of the canon law) earned a place in the system of education in the XVIII century. Jesuits schools in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth began to teach history as a separate discipline only in 1739. The study of «natural» and civil law also became a routine in the XVIII c. In this article the thematic group «Acta Polonae» from the Library of the Jesuit Collegium in Sambir is analyzed. This group included books on the history and law of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The author also identifies the books and establishes their authorship. All books are classified into several subgroups. The analysis is carried out on the basis of the handwritten library inventory from 1774.