JAN TSAR: THE STORY OF A WOMAN [1935].

Description

This is the first edition of a monumental historical synthesis written by Jan Cara (owner of Stanislaw Pawel Maciątek), published in 1935 by the St. Stanislaw Publishing House in Krakow. The book is an ambitious attempt to show the evolution of a woman’s social, legal and moral position over the centuries – from antiquity to the author’s contemporary times.

Jan Tsar (the pseudonym of Stanislav Pavel Matziel) was a lawyer, cultural historian and publicist. In “History of a Woman” he draws a panorama of the fate of women in Western civilization, analyzing their role in the family, society, religion and politics. The work is divided into three parts: “A Pretty Maiden,” “The Charm of Love” and “And When You Are My Wife…,” which gives it a literary and at the same time research structure. The author draws on historical sources, fiction, legal records and customs, showing how the ideals of womanhood, property rights, education, and the daily life of women have changed throughout history.

The publication, published in a large format (26 cm) and richly illustrated with 18 plates (including one in color), is an extremely valuable source of knowledge for cultural historians, sociologists, researchers of the history of customs and all those interested in the history of emancipation. It is also a valuable testimony to reflections on the condition of women in the Second Republic.