Stanisław Wyspiański: Zygmunt August. Sceny dramatyczne [1930]

“Zygmunt August” is Stanisław Wyspiański’s last, unfinished drama. The poet dictated it in the final months of his life, already gravely ill, to his aunt Jadwiga Stankiewiczowa. Only four scenes were completed; the rest survives in fragments. Its subject is the love of King Sigismund Augustus and Barbara Radziwiłł.

The full text first appeared in book form in November 1930, published in Warsaw by Instytut Wydawniczy “Bibljoteka Polska”. It was prepared for print by Leon Płoszewski, scholar and later editor of Wyspiański’s collected works. The edition has 6 plates, among them Jan Matejko’s sketch for the painting “Sigismund Augustus and Barbara” and Wyspiański’s own stage designs for scene II.

A clean copy with all 6 plates. We hand-bound the book in our bindery in navy natural leather: raised bands with gilt title on the spine, triple blind-tooled frames on the covers, brown and blue marbled endpapers with the label of the Antykwariat Polski bindery.