Józef Korzeniowski, The Works of Józef Korzeniowski. Vol. VIII [1872]

Title: The Works of Józef Korzeniowski. Vol. VIII. Complete edition edited by the editorial board of *Kłosy*.

Author: Józef Korzeniowski (1797–1863) [playwright, novelist, and educator; founder of the Polish character comedy and a pioneer of the realistic social novel].

Publisher: Warsaw, Published and printed by S. Lewental, publisher of “Kłosy.”

Year of publication: 1872.

Format: 20 cm.

Volume: [6], 447 pp.

Binding: Contemporary half-leather binding.

Volume VIII of the collected edition of Józef Korzeniowski’s writings, published under the editorial direction of “Kłosy,” brings together the following dramatic works: “Klara,” “Aniela,” “The Monk,” “Dymitr and Marya,” “The Girl and the Lady, or Proposals,” “The Dead and the Living, or A Little of Both,” “The Carpathian Highlanders,” and “Batory.” “The Carpathian Highlanders,” Korzeniowski’s most famous drama, holds a special place among them. He introduced the Hutsul people to the Polish stage as full-fledged heroes of tragedy, and the songs from the play gained immense popularity. The play was also translated into Ukrainian and adapted. The complete works were published by Salomon Lewental, the publisher of *Kłosy*—the most important illustrated weekly in Warsaw at the time—and one of the most distinguished Polish publishers of the second half of the 19th century.

Józef Korzeniowski was born on March 19, 1797, in Brody. He was a student at the Krzemieniec High School, where he befriended Karol Sienkiewicz and later taught there himself. He then taught classical philology at the University of Kyiv and headed a secondary school in Kharkiv. Eventually, he settled in Warsaw, where he collaborated with *Biblioteka Warszawska*. From 1861 to 1863, alongside Margrave Aleksander Wielopolski, he organized the education system in the Kingdom of Poland, including the Main School. As a playwright, he was ranked alongside Aleksander Fredro, and his novels paved the way for Polish realist and social-realist prose. He died in September 1863 in Dresden. In 1864, his ashes were interred at Powązki Cemetery. In 1898, a monument to him, sculpted by Antoni Popiel, was unveiled in his hometown of Brody.

Provenance: on the reverse of the title page, there is a stamp reading “Public Library of the Capital City of Warsaw” and a stamp reading “From the collections of the Public Library of the Capital City of Warsaw, Main Library of the Mazovia Province. For sale on the market,” documenting the legal removal of the piece from the library’s records and its transfer to the antiquarian book market.

This is a volume of plays from Lewental’s classic edition, including *Karpaccy górale*, in a period half-leather binding. A must-have for collectors of early Polish literature and Romantic drama, scholars of Korzeniowski’s work, and enthusiasts of Salomon Lewental’s publications.

The text block is compact and tightly bound; the original stitching firmly holds the cover in place; there are no loose pages, and the volume is complete textually. The paper has the proper stiffness, with a natural patina of age: scattered foxing spots, acid yellowing, and minor soiling along the margins from past library use. Original period half-leather binding in good condition; the structure is fully rigid, with slight superficial scuffs on the leather surface of the spine and minor wear on the paper at the edges of the cardboard.

Catalog ID: 6376x8-20-A-Y