Kornel Makuszyński, *The Man Found at Night* [1932]

Title: A Man Found at Night.

Author: Kornel Makuszyński (1884–1953) [novelist, poet, and columnist; one of the most widely read writers of the interwar period; author of classics of children’s and young adult literature].

Publisher: Warsaw, Gebethner and Wolff.

Year of publication: 1932.

Format: 18 cm.

Number of pages: 287.

Binding: Period half-leather binding.

The year 1932 found Kornel Makuszyński at the height of his popularity. It was then that the author of cheerful stories for young people turned to a completely different subject matter. “The Man Found at Night” is a novel for adults. The story begins with a chance nighttime encounter between a young writer and a mud-covered, elderly man. An offer of lodging, made almost instinctively, marks the beginning of a transformation in the protagonist’s life and worldview. The work combines the warmth and humor characteristic of Makuszyński with a touch of melancholy, and concludes with a sad ending. The book was published by the Warsaw-based firm Gebethner and Wolff, one of the largest and most influential book and publishing companies in prewar Poland, for which Makuszyński was one of the most important authors. The novel quickly gained a readership and saw further editions even before the war.

Kornel Makuszyński was born on January 8, 1884, in Stryj. He attended middle school in Lviv, studied literature at the University of Lviv, and later in Paris. He made his literary debut in 1902 in the Lviv-based newspaper *Słowo Polskie*, where he later worked as a theater critic. During World War I, he was evacuated to Kyiv, where he directed a Polish theater and was active in Polish literary circles. In 1918, he settled in Warsaw. He was a member of the Polish Academy of Literature and a recipient of its Golden Laurel. He achieved his greatest fame through his books for children and young adults: *The Two Who Stole the Moon*, *The Devil from Seventh Grade*, *The Girl with the Wet Head*, and the adventures of Koziołek Matołek, illustrated by Marian Walentynowicz. He died on July 31, 1953, in Zakopane, where his widow, Janina Makuszyńska, donated his collection to the museum named after him. In 2018, he was posthumously awarded the Order of the White Eagle.

Provenance: no ownership inscriptions or stamps.

This is a pre-war edition of a lesser-known, “adult” novel by an author beloved by generations of young readers, in a period half-leather binding. A must-have for collectors of first editions from the interwar period and enthusiasts of Makuszyński’s work.

The text block is very compact and mechanically stable, with strong original stitching, even folds, and the volume is complete. The paper has adequate stiffness, with numerous and pronounced foxing spots, acid discoloration, and soiling on the margins from past page-turning; there are no mechanical losses and no damage to the legibility of the text. Contemporary half-leather binding in good condition: a stiff leather spine with minor surface scuffs; cardboard endpapers with soiling and paper wear; rounded and worn corners, while the structure remains stable.

Catalog ID: 3477-18-A-W