Tadeusz Makowiecki, Poet-Painter: A Study of Stanisław Wyspiański [1935]

Author: Tadeusz MAKOWIECKI (1900–1952) [Polish literary critic, historian of literature and art; from 1936, an employee of the University of Warsaw Library (co-organizer of the campaign to save the collections in 1944), professor at Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń since 1946]

Publisher: The Adam Mickiewicz Literary Society (Warsaw Branch) and the “Biblioteka Polska” Publishing Institute, Warsaw

Year of publication: 1935. First edition.

Volume: 254 pp. + 14 plates (plate no. 13 is missing from this copy).

Size: 25–26 cm.

Binding: The original paper publisher’s cover (based on a design by Stanisław Wyspiański) has been preserved inside and subsequently encased in a later cloth binding.

Tadeusz Makowiecki’s *“Poet-Painter”* is one of the first attempts at a comprehensive examination of Stanisław Wyspiański’s work as an artist in two disciplines. The author explores the connections between Wyspiański’s paintings—including his pastels—and his plays: stage composition, the role of color and light in theater, and his connections to Matejko and Malczewski. The work was published in the “Biblioteka Pamiętnika Literackiego” series by the Adam Mickiewicz Literary Society.

Provenance: On the half-title page, there is a handwritten dedication dated December 27, 1941, to “Dear Niusia,” referring to Makowiecki’s reflections on Wyspiański’s “instinct for life.” A memento from the occupation.

Loose pages, detached from the spine, awaiting re-binding. The text contains numerous old underlines and pencil notes. Plate No. 13 is missing.

An item from the 19th Polish Antiquarian Book Auction.