Jurgio Ambraziejaus Pabrėžos biblioteka: medicinos ir farmacijos knygų rinkinys | Jurgis Ambraziejus Pabrėža’s Library: A Collection of Medical and Pharmaceutical Books

Abstract

The Franciscan priest Jurgis Ambraziejus Pabrėža (1771–1849) spent most of his life in the western part of the Russian Empire, in Žemaitija (Samogitia), which was annexed by Russia in 1795 during the Third Partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. In addition to being a renowned preacher and educator, Pabrėža is considered to be the founder of Lithuanian botanical terminology (still used today), and he is also known as a folk healer and a bibliophile. In many ways, Pabreža’s collection of books is an interesting personal library from the time, representing Franciscan book culture. Based on surviving books and archival sources, the article examines the motivation behind the accumulation of the medical and pharmaceutical collection in Pabrėža’s personal library, analyses the sources of the collection, the composition and subject matter, and the dispersal and migration, and discusses the results of the historical-bibliographical reconstruction of the unpublished part. His healing practice and the preparation of theoretical educational works on health care became the main motives for Pabrėža to collect books on medicine and pharmacy. This was a response to the needs of the poor inhabitants of Žemaitija. In Tsarist Russia, many people, especially ordinary rural people, did not have access to public health-care services or pharmacists. Pabreža devoted a large part of his life to the practice of medicine, making it more accessible to socially at risk members of society.