A Treasure Trove for Families in the City and the Countryside. Volume II [ca. 1889]

Number of pages: 252

Size: 18 cm

Binding: Original period half-leather bookbinder’s binding with embossing on the spine

Volume II of “A Treasure Trove for Families in the City and Countryside” is a guide devoted to exercise, home entertainment, and women’s professional work. It includes tips for cyclists—at a time when the bicycle was still a novelty (the Warsaw Cyclists’ Society was founded in 1886)—as well as rules for ice skating, swimming lessons, and indoor gymnastics. The section on culture includes a primer on music, rules for recitation, and a repertoire of plays to perform in the parlor, while the section on women’s work presents the opportunities available at the time for earning an income outside the home. The chapters on needlework, recitation, and home theater provide a good picture of social life in Polish homes under foreign rule, where the parlor was often the center of cultural life.

An interesting account of the emergence of modern leisure time and women’s professional activities in Poland in the late 19th century.

The volume is intact. The paper is slightly dulled, with small spots; the text is legible. On the title page, there is a small loss of paper near the stitching, with no loss of text. The period half-leather binding holds the block firmly; the spine leather shows signs of wear, the corners are scuffed, and the title on the spine is barely legible. No library stamps.

An item from the 19th Polish Antiquarian Book Auction.