How to Make Late Medieval Court-Office Books Accessible to a Wider Audience? Some Remarks on the Margins of the Edition of the Oldest Bench Book of Koło from 1502–1544 with a Fragment of a Council Book from the Years 1480–1493

(Księga landwójtowsko-ławnicza Koła 1480–1544, ed. Marcin Starzyński, Avalon, Kraków 2023, pp. 774)

Abstract

This article discusses the source edition of the oldest surviving town book of the Wielkopolska town of Koło prepared by Marcin Starzyński. It was addressed not only to researchers, but also to a wider circle of history enthusiasts, for whom the publisher prepared a full translation of the Latin source text into Polish. Unfortunately, the publication of M. Starzyński is, in the reviewer’s opinion, unsuccessful, as it contains a number of faults and errors. The most important are the lack of a broader discussion in the introduction about the position of Koło against the background of the urban network of Wielkopolska in the 15th–16th centuries, the omission of a presentation of the court bench, the incorrect identification of some of the pages attached secondarily to the manuscript, and the incorrect attribution of the whole manuscript as a land
and court book from the years 1480–1544, while it documents the activities of the court bench in the years 1502–1544 and of the town council (on an added bifolium) from 1480 to 1493. It also lacks a glossary explaining to a wider audience the more difficult terms occurring later in the translation of the source. In the edition, misreadings of the manuscript are surprisingly numerous, which results in an often incorrect translation. In the indexes, incorrect identification of localities is repeatedly glaring. Based on the errors noted here, more general recommendations have been formulated for publishers of other late medieval court and office books. It is necessary to carefully select the subject matter of the edition (the Koło book contains almost exclusively repetitive entries concerning real estate transactions), to prepare an extensive introduction containing the most important information about the town in which the book was written, and a minimonography of the published source. Finally, it is also necessary to carefully edit the text from its manuscript basis and provide it with extensive Polish-language regests. In the index of persons and places, it is important to use an extensive system of cross-references, to classify persons also according to their place of origin, and finally to prepare the main entry for the place where the book was written in a cross-sectional manner, taking into account not only persons, but also topography and institutions active in the town. It is also advisable to compile factual indexes.