Adolf Dygasiński, *New Secrets of Warsaw*: A Social Novel in Three Volumes, vols. I–III in 1 vol. [1887]

Size: 20 cm.

Volume: Vol. I: Under a Dark Star, 218 pp.; Vol. II: The Disabled and the Chosen, 225 pp.; Vol. III: The Better Ones Wither Away, 224 pp. [three volumes in one book]

Binding: period half-leather

A set of three volumes of Adolf Dygasiński’s novels in a single volume. Dygasiński, a participant in the January Uprising, an educator (he was, among other things, a teacher of the young Jacek Malczewski), and one of the leading Polish naturalists, wrote this “mystery novel” in the spirit of Eugène Sue’s *The Mysteries of Paris* before he became famous for his stories about animals (*The Hare*, “The Joys of Life”), wrote this “mystery novel” in the spirit of Eugène Sue’s “The Mysteries of Paris.” The volumes “Under a Dark Star,” “The Disadvantaged and the Chosen,” and “The Better Ones Wither Away” lead readers through the social back alleys of 19th-century Warsaw: the moral decline of high society, people pushed to the margins, and the struggle for survival in the big city. It is less commonly found on the antiquarian book market than the author’s later nature-themed prose.

A complete copy. The title page is soiled and taped along the margin; the paper is yellowed in places; there is a stain on the last two pages.

An item from the 18th Polish Antiquarian Book Auction.