Stanisław Wyspiański: A November Night. Dramatic Scenes [1904] – first edition

Stanisław Wyspiański, “A November Night: Dramatic Scenes,” Kraków 1904

(Published by the author; Jagiellonian University Press; sold at Gebethner Bookstore; first edition)

“A November Night” is a play by Stanisław Wyspiański about the first hours of the November Uprising. Most of the action takes place in Warsaw’s Łazienki Park, because that is where the uprising broke out—at the Officer Cadet School. Alongside historical figures, such as Piotr Wysocki, the leader of the cadet conspiracy, the play features statues of gods and mythological figures that come to life: Pallas Athena, Ares, Hermes, and Charon. According to the Royal Łazienki Museum, Wyspiański visited Łazienki in 1898.

The play was first published in 1904 in Kraków, at the author’s own expense. It was staged for the first time after the poet’s death: on November 28, 1908, at the Municipal Theater in Kraków, directed by Ludwik Solski.

A clean copy with its original paperback cover featuring a color illustration. It 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.

494-22-A-X