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[KRAKOW PRINTING INDUSTRY] Księga pamiątkowa stowarzyszen drukarzy Krakowskich [i.e. The Memorial Book of the Krakow Printers’ Association]

Item #2582

Krakow: Ognisko, 1930. VIII, 257 pp., 20 plates of ill. 29 × 21 cm. Original cloth binding with gilt lettering in the front cover. Colored edges. Binding is slightly worn.
Very good inside.

First and only edition. One of 900 copies printed. Published to commemorate the 80 years of the association. The book is printed by the Krakow printers’ association to commemorate 80th years in business. The emblem of the association is reproduced on the front cover in mirror image to resemble the type form (numbers 1850-1930 give it away).

It starts with the short history of Krakow publishing, dating back to the 15th century. In 1675 the first association was formed, but it didn’t survive long, so only the one starting in mid-19th century has survived until the 1930s (but didn’t last after WWII). The main body of the book is based on the documents from the Krakow City Archives, and gives the picture of the printing landscape in the city for 8 decades, with all the printshop members mentioned with short histories of them, as well as notable personalities.
The separate chapters are dedicated to the association’s activities during WWI and in the period after, with the Polish reclaiming independence. The following authors contributed to the creation of this book: texts by association members Michał Baranowski, Antoni Harlender, Józef Wesołowski, Ludwik Królikowski, Henryk Taubman, Władysław Malczyk, and Franciszek Waligóra. The typesetters and monotype setters Jan Gorzelany, Stanisław Ryszko, with type casting by Paweł Rook and Franciszek Flank. The hand composers were Edward Marszałek and Stanisław Siewierski, the machinists were Marjan Dębowski and Stanisław Florek. The bookbinding was done by Soja French, and the plates and rotogravures were created according to photos by St. Mucha. The zinc plates were produced by photochemistry, with drawings by Gryf based on the original by J. Augustyn. The paper was provided by M. Fleiszer, and the printing, including the rotogravures, was completed in July 1930.

Price: $850.00