Maria Szpyrkówna: Autumn Verses [1911]

Maria Szpyrkówna, *Autumn Verses*, Kraków 1911

(Main stock available at Gebethner and Wolff bookstores in Warsaw and at G. Gebethner & Co. in Kraków; printed by W. L. Anczyc & Co.; first edition)

“Autumn Verses” is Maria Szpyrkówna’s first collection of poems. The opening poem of the cycle is dated “Zakopane–Belarus, 1911”: “And they will go there, into the vast distance, / they will go, unknown, into an unknown world, / somewhere from the silver alpine pastures of the Tatra Mountains / to the burial mounds of the Belarusian fields…”.

Maria Szpyrkówna (born Maria Horska-Szpyrkówna, 1893–1977), born in Vitebsk, made her literary debut in 1909 in *Prąd*; *Autumn Verses* was her debut poetry collection. She later wrote social and occult novels, books for children and young adults, reportage, and essays; she contributed to *Bluszcz* and *Płomyk*, and, after 1945, with Polish Radio. She was vice president of the Polish Metapsychic Society and, beginning in 1935, served as editor of *Przegląd Metapsychiczny*.

On the half-title page, there is a purple stamp reading “Jerzy Gedl” and some pencil notes—traces of the book’s previous owner.

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.