The article contains an analysis of the genealogy of 19th-century Polish research in the field of literary history. My inquiry contains a comparison between literary research in Germany and in Poland. From this point of view, literary history was an important factor in the process of building a modern nation. Furthermore, literary historians also played the role of indispensable authorities on the cultural past and present: in Germany as professors of universities, and in Poland during the partitions as intellectuals and writers.