[Michał Czacki]: On Natural Law, or On the Duties and Relationships of the Moral Person [1803]

[Michał Czacki], “On Natural Law, or On the Duties and Relationships of the Moral Man,” Warsaw, 1803

(at Printing House No. 646 on Nowolipie Street; anonymous edition; attributed to Michał Czacki according to the National Library catalog)

“On Natural Law” is a treatise on natural law and ethics, published in Warsaw in 1803. It was published anonymously: the title page does not bear the author’s name, and the National Library’s catalog attributes the work to Michał Czacki (1753–1828). On the reverse side of the title page, a Latin motto is printed, beginning with the words “Est quidem vera lex, recta ratio, naturae congruens, diffusa in omnes, constans, sempiterna…”.

The Preface (p. 3) opens with the sentence: “When that homeland—in which and for which it was once a citizen’s duty to act, advise, and write—no longer exists, what remains is the universality of the world.” This is the voice of a generation that, after the fall of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, sought support in natural law and the duties of the moral individual.

Discoloration on the title page. This 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 binding handcrafted from the finest materials by master artisans at the Antykwariat Polski bookbinding workshop. 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.

13083-19-A-Z