Book Description

Bruehl. Opowiadanie z życia Niemców na polskim tronie. Lille: Printing and Publishing House of Wiarus Polski, [ca. 1929]. First and only edition, issued as a free literary supplement to the Polish émigré newspaper Wiarus Polski. Octavo (22 × 14.5 cm). Contemporary quarter cloth over marbled boards; old binder’s work, with original printed wrappers bound in (not present separately). [2], 58, [1] pp. A rare and ephemeral literary supplement, printed and distributed for free among Polish communities in northern France (Nord-Pas-de-Calais) in the 43rd year of Wiarus Polski — a nationalist and Catholic-leaning Polish-language daily founded in Bochum in 1890, later published in Lille from ca. 1926 onward. Printed at 35, Rue du Château, Lille. The volume contains: Bruehl by Józef Ignacy Kraszewski — a romanticized historical novella centered on Heinrich von Brühl (1700–1763), Saxon-Polish statesman and favourite of King Augustus III. Followed by “Hugo”, a Teutonic-themed narrative poem by Juliusz Słowacki, first published in Warsaw in 1829. The poem is presented without separate title page or date, but the colophon line “Warszawa 1829” refers to the original publication date, not the date of this printing. Słowacki’s Hugo is a “powieść krzyżacka” (Teutonic romance), echoing the themes of chivalry, betrayal and spiritual redemption — and its inclusion likely aligns with the 100th anniversary of its publication.
Dealer Notes
Condition: Very Good. Light wear to binding; internally complete and well-preserved despite newspaper-grade paper. Old ownership signature and small ink mark on title page. Pages toned as expected. A remarkably sound survival of a rare print item.

Bibliographic Note:
This free-standing supplement is not recorded in any major library catalogue (Polona, OCLC/WorldCat, BnF Gallica, Lillonum). It is not to be confused with Kraszewski’s Brühl in the Biblioteka Narodowa (National Library Series, 1928, Feldman ed.).
Its status as a stand-alone émigré printing of two classic Polish authors — entirely unnoted bibliographically — makes it a significant addition to collections of diaspora printing, underground literature, and Slavic literary transmission.

Keywords: Polish émigré press; Lille; Polish diaspora; Brühl; Wiarus Polski; Juliusz Słowacki; Teutonic Knights; Polish–German history; Polish romanticism; ephemeral press; unrecorded printings; Polish Catholic nationalism.
Author Kraszewski, Józef Ignacy. Juliusz Słowacki.
Binding Contemporary binder’s quarter-cloth over marbled boards
Publisher Printing & Publishing House of “Wiarus Polski
Condition Very Good

Price: £120.00

Offered by Trivsel Rare Books

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