Andrzej Wojtkowski, Edward Raczyński and His Work [1929]

Title: Edward Raczyński and His Work.

Author: Andrzej Wojtkowski (1891–1975) [historian and librarian, director of the Raczyński Library, associate professor at the University of Poznań, later professor at the Catholic University of Lublin].

Publisher: Poznań, published by the Raczyński Library, printed at the St. Adalbert Printing House under the management of Franciszek Kusza, on paper from its own “Malta” Paper Mill.

Year of publication: 1929.

Format: 25 cm.

Volume: [8], 421, [CXI] pp., portrait.

Binding: Half-leather binding with the original paperback cover preserved.

Andrzej Wojtkowski’s monograph was published in 1929 by the Raczyński Library in Poznań, on the 100th anniversary of the institution’s opening. It was the first public library in the Prussian partition, founded by Count Edward Raczyński with his own funds and opened on May 5, 1829. The book was created as a gift for the participants of the Fourth Congress of Polish Bibliophiles. The convention was held in Poznań from May 29 to June 2, 1929, concurrently with a librarians’ convention, during the General National Exhibition, and was planned to commemorate the centennial of the Raczyński Library. This commemorative study combines the founder’s biography with a broad overview of cultural life in Greater Poland during the first half of the 19th century. The author portrays Raczyński as a politician, collector, bibliophile, publisher of historical sources, and patron of the arts. His undertakings permanently changed the face of the city: the library, the water supply system for Poznań, and his involvement in the construction of the Golden Chapel with its monument to the first Piasts in Poznań Cathedral. This meticulously produced edition, printed at the St. Adalbert Printing House on paper from the “Malta” factory, with a portrait of Raczyński on the half-title page, ranks among the most distinguished Poznań publications of the interwar period.

Edward Raczyński (1786–1845), a landowner from Greater Poland, politician, collector, and bibliophile, was one of the most prominent figures in the public life of the Grand Duchy of Poznań. He was the author and publisher of historical works, including *Gabinet medali polskich* (*A Collection of Polish Medals*) and *Wspomnienia Wielkopolski* (*Memoirs of Greater Poland*). His library is housed in a building on what is now Wolności Square and remains one of Poznań’s most important cultural institutions to this day.

Andrzej Wojtkowski was born in 1891 in Jeziorne near Ostrów Wielkopolski. He studied in Berlin, under Aleksander Brückner, among others. From 1929 to 1939 and from 1944 to 1949, he directed the Raczyński Library; he was an associate professor at the University of Poznań; and from 1945 to 1963, he headed the Department of Polish Cultural History at the Catholic University of Lublin (KUL). Raczyński’s monograph, published in the year he assumed directorship of the library, remains his most important work. He died in 1975.

Provenance: on the front endpaper, an ex-libris reading “Ex-Libris of Andrzej Jaworski”; on the first endpaper, a handwritten inscription reading “A gift for the participants of the 4th Bibliophiles’ Congress. Poznań 1929.” A number is on the half-title page; a scratched-out stamp is on the reverse of the title page.

This is a bibliophile’s piece with an inscription linking it to the 4th Congress of Polish Bibliophiles, along with the collector’s bookplate. A must-have for book and bookplate enthusiasts, collectors of Greater Poland regional items, and library historians.

The half-leather binding is in very good condition, with the original paperback cover preserved. The text block is intact. The paper has minimal natural spots and discoloration. There is a number on the half-title page and a scratched-off stamp on the reverse of the title page.

Catalog ID: 11125-25-B-W