Górski, K. M., *Biblioman*: A Short Story [1896]

Title: The Bibliomaniac. A novella.

Author: K. M. Górski

Publisher: Spółka Wydawnicza Polska, Kraków (Printed by “Czas,” Fr. Kluczycki)

Year of publication: 1896.

Format: 23 cm.

Number of pages: 31, [6] pp.

Binding: Paperback, paper cover, standard publication format.

The novella *Biblioman* was published in Kraków in 1896 by Spółka Wydawnicza Polska, one year after it earned the author third prize in the *Czas* Literary Contest in 1895. The work tackles a theme rarely found in Polish prose of that period —the passion for collecting books taken to the point of obsession, presented as a psychological study written with detachment and irony by a man who himself moved among book collections and other collections. It was written within the circles of Kraków’s artistic intelligentsia at the end of the 19th century. Henryk Sienkiewicz, a friend of Górski’s, wrote of it: “No one has yet managed to encapsulate such a grand idea in such a short novella, nor to express it in such noble and discreet language.” In terms of volume, this is a small print edition, typical of the separate publications of works awarded in press competitions at the time; the volume concludes with the publisher’s catalog, which in itself serves as a record of the Polish Publishing Company’s offerings from the mid-1890s.

The author, Konstanty Marian Górski (1862–1909), who also published under the pseudonym Spectator, was born in Wola Pękoszewska as the grandson of General Franciszek Górski, the son of Jan Górski and Maria, née Countess Łubieńska; he had seven siblings, including his brother, the politician Ludwik Górski (1865–1931). He attended St. Anne’s Gymnasium in Kraków, then studied at Jagiellonian University, and continued his studies in art history and literature at the Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität in Berlin, where he earned his doctorate in 1888. He was a scholar of 17th- and 18th-century literature—he wrote a study on Jan III Sobieski in Polish poetry, as well as works on Krasicki’s fables and on Karpiński—and also a translator and paraphraser of Horace, Catullus, and Virgil; his *Literary Writings* were published in 1913 by Stanisław Pigoń. After 1891, he directed the Polish Library in Paris, and from 1896 to 1899 he organized research stations there for the Academy of Learning; From 1891 onward, he also taught the history of painting at the Kraków School of Fine Arts. As a critic, he espoused conservative Catholic views under the influence of Stanisław Tarnowski, while in aesthetics he was close to Jacob Burckhardt. In addition to art criticism and art history, he wrote poetry with classicist tendencies, collected in the volume *Wierszem* (written between 1883 and 1893, published in 1904). He died on March 5, 1909, in Kraków and was buried at the Rakowicki Cemetery.

The provenance of this piece remains unknown—it bears no institutional stamps or ownership inscriptions.

A first edition of a short story collection rarely found on the antiquarian book market, of interest to collectors of bibliophile items, Young Poland prints, and Kraków publications from the turn of the century.

The block is intact, the paper is clean, with no stains or signs of wear. The paper publisher’s cover has numerous small areas of paper loss, typical of fragile brochures from this period.

Catalog ID: 9977-23-A-X