Theses/purpose of the article – The main purpose of the article is to present the selection of personal life documents in personal bibliographies, published in Poland until 1985. Research methods – The method of analysis and criticism of personal bibliographies was used, paying attention to the selection of material, in particular the registration of personal life documents. Results and conclusions – The research undertaken shows that personal bibliographies published prior to 1985 include various types of personal life documents, but only a small part of them do so. The vast majority of the analyzed material omit such documents, although they are an extremely important source of information in scientific research, particularly useful to other fields, for example biographical studies. Personal bibliographies should record personal life documents to a much greater extent, not only those published but also in manuscripts and in the form of iconographic, audio and film documents.