Canon and tradition of Władysław A. Kościelski. Romantic editions in the “Great Library” series by “Biblioteka Polska” Publishing Institute

Abstract

The history of publishing houses of the 19^th and 20^th century is a subject that has so far been poorly recognized and studied by researchers. A measure of these “white spots” (with exceptions) is the lack of studies on the most important Polish publishing house of the 19^th century – the Gebethner and Wolff company. One reason for this state of affairs is, of course, the lack of archives destroyed during World War II. However, these shortcomings are not even made up for by bibliographies of the editions, which could be drawn up on the basis of available library catalogs. Among the many distinguished publishing houses of the interwar period, in addition to Gebethner and Wolff, Mortkowicz, Gubrynowicz, “Biblioteka Polska” Publishing Institute is also noteworthy. It was founded and was run by a representative of the Kościelski family, well-known in the field of cultural patronage of the beautiful century. Taking advantage of the period of Polonization of industry in the former Prussian partition, its founder bought out modern printing plants in Bydgoszcz. As a result, they attracted attention with their typographic and editorial level. At the same time, the literary culture of Kościelski and the artists who gathered around him (including Leopold Staff, Jan Kasprowicz, Wacław Berent, Aleksander Guttry) ensured that the institution had a thoughtful publishing policy and a high level of published works. In this light, taking into account both tradition and contemporaneity – a detailed analysis is worthwhile of the publishing program of the works of the Romantics published by “Biblioteka Polska” Publishing Institute, which combined the old and new views of the era. The article is supplemented by a complete listing of works by Romantic authors that appeared in “Wielka Biblioteka” series published in 1920–1931 in by “Biblioteka Polska” Publishing Institute.