[ILLUSTRATOR'S AUTOGRAPH/EX LIBRIS] Book autographed by the illustrator, Maja (Maria) Berezowska (Baranovichi 1898 – 1978 Warsaw) & Bookplate by Andrzej Czernik—Ignacy Krasicki, “Myszeidos. Songs X,” State Publishing Institute, 1954, Warsaw, Edition

Ignacy Krasicki (born February 3, 1735, in Dubiecko; died March 14, 1801, in Berlin), “Myszeidos. Songs X,” Warsaw, State Publishing Institute, 1954, a heroic-comic poem, illustrated book, edited and with an introduction by Mieczysław Klimowicz, illustrations and autograph by Maja Berezowska, letterpress print, paper, cloth binding, bookplate by Andrzej Czernik, ownership stamp with the monogram “AC,” from the collection of Andrzej Czernik
An edition of Ignacy Krasicki’s heroic-comic poem, edited and prefaced by Mieczysław Klimowicz, with illustrations by Maja Berezowska. Published by the State Publishing Institute in a hardcover edition. The text is typographically printed on paper; the illustrations were created using a pen-and-ink reproduction technique, occasionally enhanced with flat color accents. The title page bears Maja Berezowska’s autograph. The piece bears an ex-libris by Andrzej Czernik and a separate purple ownership stamp with the monogram “AC.”
The book is a slender, rectangular volume with slightly rounded corners. The covers are bound in light, cream-colored canvas with a distinct, fine weave. The front cover features a minimalist typographic composition: the author’s name is printed at the top in gray ink, the title “Myszeidos” in large red letters, and below it, the smaller inscription “Songs X.” At the bottom is the name of the State Publishing Institute, preceded by a thin red linear ornament. The surface of the canvas shows even soiling, small spots, and signs of wear; the corners and edges are slightly frayed.
The title page has a spacious layout, with a large amount of unprinted paper. The title and the author’s name are printed in black and red, and in the center is a small, humorous illustration of a writer seated at a desk. The names of those responsible for the publication are listed: the text was edited and prefaced by Mieczysław Klimowicz, and the illustrations were created by Maja Berezowska. This page features the illustrator’s blue, handwritten autograph. Below is a purple, circular seal featuring a decoratively intertwined “AC” monogram. This is Andrzej Czernik’s ownership seal.
The interior layout combines widely spaced text with full-page illustrations. Berezowska’s drawings are executed with a light, fluid line, featuring deliberately varied contour thickness. The artist distorts the characters’ silhouettes and facial features, enlarging their noses, chins, bellies, and costume elements to create an effect of comical exaggeration. On the reproduced spreads, the text occupies the left-hand page, while the right-hand page features an elaborate figurative scene. In other sections, the illustrations are occasionally tinted with pink, blue, green, and yellow. Color serves as an accent; it does not define space and leaves the dominant role to the black line art.
Andrzej Czernik’s ex-libris serves as a distinct mark of ownership. It takes the form of a black-and-white print depicting a fragment of urban architecture: a monumental column or monument, adjacent buildings, trees, and a section of the waterfront with a decorative water motif. In the upper left corner is a large inscription reading “EX LIBRIS.” The lower part is framed by a separate panel bearing Andrzej Czernik’s handwritten signature and a partially legible date beginning with the digits “195…”. Based on the available material, the designer of the ex-libris remains unidentified.
“Myszeidos,” first published in 1775, is one of the most important Polish heroic-comic poems. Krasicki employed the structure of a lofty epic to depict the conflict between mice and cats, deliberately juxtaposing a sublime form with a trivial, grotesque subject matter. This parody of the epic convention served as a critique of human vanity, political disputes, superstitions, and social ambitions. The work embodies the conviction, characteristic of the Polish Enlightenment, that humor and irony can serve as tools for social critique.
Berezowska’s illustrations are not merely decorative additions to the text. Their caricatured expression serves as a 20th-century counterpart to Krasicki’s literary irony. The artist translates the poem’s heroicomic mechanism into a visual language: the characters are endowed with theatrical gestures, elaborate costumes, and grotesque features, while the group scenes resemble a satirical performance. As a result, the publication creates a coherent dialogue between 18th-century literary satire and modern caricature.
Ignacy Krasicki was a poet, prose writer, journalist, Bishop of Warmia, and, from 1795, Archbishop of Gniezno. He was one of the leading figures of the Polish Enlightenment and a member of King Stanisław August Poniatowski’s intellectual circle. His works include *Fables and Parables*, *Satires*, “Monachomachia,” and the novel “The Adventures of Mikołaj Doświadczyński.” His work combined classical discipline of form with irony, social observation, and a program for the rationalist education of society.
Maja Berezowska, born Maria Berezowska (born in 1893 or 1898 in Baranovichi—sources differ on the date of birth — died in 1978 in Warsaw), was a painter, illustrator, set designer, and one of the most important Polish satirical cartoonists of the 20th century. She published in magazines such as *Szpilki* and *Cyrulik Warszawski*, illustrated classical literature, and designed theatrical costumes. Her distinctive style was based on loose contours, elegant distortion, and a blend of eroticism with social irony. The artist’s autograph significantly enhances the collectible value of this piece.
Mieczysław Klimowicz (1919–2008) was a literary historian, editor, and an outstanding scholar of the Polish Enlightenment. He specialized in the works of Krasicki, the literature of the Stanisław era, and the history of theater. His accompanying study places the poem within its literary and historical context and lends the edition a scholarly and editorial character.
Andrzej Czernik was the owner of the book collection to which this piece belonged. Its presence in his collection is documented by two different marks of provenance: a pasted-in bookplate with his signature and a purple stamp bearing the monogram “AC.”