Should a collection of prints and graphic materials include only items of undoubted artistic worth, or can it also include items which are valued primarily as historical evidence and because they vividly illustrate the past? This question is raised by the variety of materials accumulated in the graphic collections of the Biblioteka Jagiellonska in Cracow, ranging as they do from artists’ prints to photographs and postcards, and including a unique collection of material arising from the political struggle in Poland during the 1980s. Typically, graphic collections accumulate by gift and chance, without any intention that they should serve only a single aim; since visual images of all kinds lend themselves to being looked at and used in different ways, a visual collection, especially in a public library, should serve many purposes and a wide range of users. (A full English version follows the original text in French).