Szymon Góralski, Indulgences in the Churches of the Order of St. Francis the Seraphic [1861]

Title: Indulgences in the Churches of the Order of St. Francis the Seraphic.

Author: Szymon Góralski (c. 1801–1879) [Franciscan, definitor of the Order of Friars Minor; listed on the title page under the pseudonym “Fr. S.G., Franciscan”].

Publisher: Kraków, at the Printing House of Ż. J. Wywiałkowski.

Year of publication: 1861.

Edition: Second.

Format: 19 cm.

Volume: 150 pp., [4] + 13 pages of a religious manuscript.

Binding: Period leather binding.

A nineteenth-century compendium of indulgences granted in the churches of the Order of St. Francis of Assisi —a handy guide for the clergy and the faithful, organizing the indulgences associated with Franciscan churches and combining a normative exposition with a practical primer on piety. This second edition was published in Kraków in 1861 by Jakub Wywiałkowski’s Żegota printing house. The work enjoyed enduring popularity: in 1869, the Kraków-based “Bookstore and Publishing House of Catholic Works” owned by Wielogłowski and Jaworski published its third, significantly expanded edition, supplemented with explanations and prayers.

The author concealed his identity on the title page under the pseudonym “Fr. S.G., Franciscan,” which the National Library catalog identifies as Szymon Góralski. He served as a definitor of the Franciscan Order and died on December 14, 1879, at the age of 78. The printer, Jakub Żegota Wywiałkowski, was born on July 26, 1823, in Kraków. From 1838 to 1843, he apprenticed at Stanisław Gieszkowski’s printing house; in 1845, he worked at the Friedlein publishing house in Kraków, and later at the *Gazeta Warszawska*. In search of work, he traveled through Germany, Belgium, and northern France; in Brussels, he sought support from Joachim Lelewel. Upon his return to Kraków, he founded his own type foundry. He was also a theorist of the craft—the author of the handbook *Wartkotłocznie* and *A Glossary of Terms Used in the Polish Typefounding Trade* (1881). For his participation in the January Uprising, he was imprisoned at Wawel and lost the right to operate a printing house.

The provenance of this piece is twofold. Attached to the printed block is a handwritten annex from the period—prayers and liturgical additions calligraphied in old ink—a testament to the former owner’s personal piety. The title page and other pages bear a crossed-out stamp reading “Pryw. Seminaryum naucz. żeńskie z prawem publicz. S. Munnichowej w Krakowie” (“Private Female Teachers’ Seminary with Public Status, S. Munnichowa, in Kraków”), a private female teachers’ seminary run by Sebalda Münnichowa. The crossing-out of the stamp likely indicates that the institution was later decommissioned.

A Franciscan print from Kraków, produced using type from a printer who was an insurgent, with a handwritten appendix and a school provenance —a must-have for collectors of Cracovian works and early religious literature, scholars of Franciscan spirituality, and historians of girls’ education in Kraków.

The inner block is perfectly compact and mechanically stable; the original stitching firmly holds the printed sections and the final handwritten pages. The paper bears a natural patina of age: scattered foxing, acid-induced yellowing, and superficial soiling on the margins from long-term use in religious services; the manuscript ink and the seminary’s ink stamp are clearly visible. The original period full-leather binding is stable, with a crack in the leather layer on the spine, but the covers have not separated; the edges and front cover show natural scuffing. The volume is complete and intact.

Catalog ID: 17191x19-A-X