MICKIEWICZ - KONRAD WALLENROD 1828 [2nd ed.]; WĘŻYK - THE ENVIRONMENTS OF KRAKOW Kraków 1820

Franciszek WĘŻYK

NEAR KRAKOW

Poem

Kraków 1820, published by Ambr. Grabowski, Bookseller, p. 63, [9];

The first edition of the famous verse poem by Franciszek Wężyk (1785–1862) —one of the earliest 19th-century guidebooks to Kraków and its surroundings, alongside Ambroży Grabowski’s classic work *Kraków and Its Surroundings*.

This descriptive poem is a literary tribute to the landscape and monuments of Lesser Poland. With a Romantic passion for “national antiquities,” the author extols the beauty of Wawel, Skałka, Bielany, Tyniec, Krzeszowice, Pieskowa Skała, Ojców, and Wieliczka. The work also has documentary significance —it is one of the first literary works to depict the surroundings of Kraków from the perspective of early tourism. It is worth noting that some places, including the Zielonkowska Cave, were described in literature for the first time in this very poem.

Franciszek Wężyk —a poet, playwright, and prose writer— was born on October 7, 1785, in Witulin. He was a member of the Society of Friends of Science in Warsaw and president of the Kraków Scientific Society. His work, imbued with the spirit of Classicism and early Romanticism, constitutes an important link in the development of Polish descriptive and regional literature in the first half of the 19th century.

Rare!

[bound together with:]

MICKIEWICZ, Adam

KONRAD WALLENROD

A historical novel based on Lithuanian and Prussian history, by [...]

published in St. Petersburg in 1828 with the permission of the censors

with a portrait of the author

and featuring three lithographs depicting scenes from the drama.

Krakow, 1828, Gieszkowski Brothers Printing House, pp. VIII, 96; 4 plates of illustrations; size 13 x 20 cm

The second, unauthorized edition of Adam Mickiewicz’s poem, published in the same year as the St. Petersburg first edition. This edition appeared without the author’s knowledge or consent. The plate preceding the title features a portrait of the poet with the caption: “Adam Mickiewicz, Romantic Poet, born in Lithuania in 1798.”

The text includes three illustrations traditionally attributed to Wincenty Smokowski. They were printed as lithographs by P. Wyszkowski in Kraków, as copies of the engravings from the first edition prepared by Bizański. It is worth noting, however, that the latest findings by researchers do not unequivocally confirm Smokowski’s authorship, leaving the question of their origin open.

As Semkowicz noted:

“Unfortunately, there were only one hundred pieces with the portrait and engravings, out of a total of five hundred […]. If we take into account the small print run [...], we will conclude that considering this edition an exceptional rarity is entirely justified. Not even some of the more prominent libraries possess it, or if they do, it is … without the engravings” (Semkowicz, p. 46).

The history of this edition, as Syga notes, is almost literary in nature:

“This lightning-fast reprint has an extraordinarily romantic and truly moving history [...]. The perpetrator of this new ‘plagiarism’ was, in fact, a noble and exceptionally honest young man, Mieczysław Darowski, who later became an officer in the November Uprising […]. The Kraków ‘plagiarism’ of *Wallenrod* was a complete imitation of the St. Petersburg edition [...]. The book was published with great care and, moreover, featured the first portrait of Mickiewicz to be included in a book of his works. The Kraków edition of *Wallenrod* (edited by Henryk Bogusz and Mieczysław Darowski, [...]) is an extraordinary rarity; this is especially true of pieces containing the drawings and portrait, as only one hundred were printed”(Syga, pp. 49–56).

The Kraków edition of *Konrad Wallenrod* is today one of the greatest rarities in the history of Polish Romantic literature, particularly in complete pieces containing Mickiewicz’s portrait and a set of engravings.

PERIOD HALF-LEATHER HARDCOVER, DECORATED SPINE

Condition: Very Good (DB)—edge scuffs, spine edge wear, owner’s inscriptions; browning and stains in *Okolice*; *Konrrad* is definitely clean;

Provenance: a copy from the library of Wacław Müller.