Władysław Studnicki: The Polish Question [1910]

Władysław Studnicki, “The Polish Question,” Poznań 1910

(published by Zdzisław Rzepecki & Co.; in Warsaw, by E. Wende & Co.; printed by the “Dziennik Poznański” Printing House)

“The Polish Question” is a book in which Władysław Studnicki advocated for the reconstruction of Poland with the support of Austria-Hungary and the German Empire. The book’s motto consists of words attributed to “Napoleon I”: “We shall see if the Poles are worthy of being a nation.” In 1951, the authorities of the People’s Republic of Poland banned all of Studnicki’s books.

Władysław Studnicki (1867–1953) was born in Daugavpils. For his socialist activities, the Russians exiled him to Eastern Siberia for six years; the first entry on the list of “Works by this Author” in this copy is “Contemporary Siberia” (Kraków, 1897). He was a staunch opponent of Russia and a supporter of a Polish-German alliance. In 1941, the Germans arrested him and imprisoned him at Pawiak until 1942. He died in London.

This copy includes a frontispiece featuring a portrait of the author and a facsimile of his signature. The copy underwent conservation treatment at the Antykwariat Polski workshop. The book block was mechanically cleaned, and the sections were re-sewn by hand, restoring the volume’s structural stability.

A leather-bound volume handcrafted from the finest materials by master artisans at the Antykwariat Polski bookbindery. Natural leather, with a marbled paper endpaper.

The mission of Antykwariat Polski is based on a simple belief: valuable Polish books deserve to survive. Not as exhibits behind glass, but as living objects—preserved, bound with the utmost artisanal care, and ready for centuries to come in a collector’s library.

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