Ignacy Kozłowski, *Polska Gazeta Introligatorska*. Vol. IV, No. 7 [1931]

Title: Polish Bookbinders' Gazette. Volume IV, No. 7.

Author: Ignacy Kozłowski

Publisher: Published by the Polish Bookbinders’ Gazette. Printed at Rolnicza Drukarnia i Księgarnia Nakładowa Sp. z o.o. in Poznań. Bound at the “Dźwignia” Bookbinding Workshop of W. Małecki, Poznań

Year of publication: [1931] (Year IV of the series; volume numbering independently confirmed: Vol. 1 = 1928, Vol. 2 = 1929, Vol. 3 = 1930, Vol. 4 = 1931).

Format: 29 cm.

Volume: Continuous pagination from p. 93 to p. 104.

Binding: Paperback cover, paper, publisher’s edition.

Specialized craft trade journals are among the least commonly preserved categories of interwar printed materials—issues of this type were used up in workshops, not in libraries. "Polska Gazeta Introligatorska" was a monthly magazine published in Poznań from 1928 to 1934 and, throughout its existence, remained the country’s only professional journal addressed to bookbinders; it published professional advice and technical materials at a time when no Polish textbook existed for this craft. The magazine attracted interest from the community throughout Poland, but it failed to maintain satisfactory sales—financial difficulties during the recession led to its demise; the final issue was published on June 20, 1934.

The venture was a private initiative of Ignacy Kozłowski, a bookbinder from Poznań, who published the magazine together with Dr. Ludwik Rządkowski; Stanisław Haremza served as editor-in-chief. Support was provided by Jan Kuglin, director of the Agricultural Printing House and Publishing House in Poznań—a facility considered at the time to be one of the best printing houses in the country and, at the same time, the very same publishing house from which this issue was produced. Among those who published in the magazine were Aleksander Semkowicz, Bonawentura Lenart, Zdzisław Szafranek, Hilary Majkowski, Władysław Grabowski, and Józef Przesławski, alongside the publishers themselves and Kuglin. At the turn of 1928 and 1929, a conflict arose within the editorial staff regarding the direction of the monthly’s development, which was ultimately resolved by a court ruling.

The provenance of this piece remains unknown—there are no ownership records, nor any postwar institutional stamps.

A valuable item for researchers of the history of the Polish book and the bookbinding craft, historians of the trade press, and collectors of Greater Poland prints.

The block is compact and stable; the original paperback binding is intact, and the sections are straight; the pagination is continuous within the volume, and the issue is complete. The paper is clean and bright, with a few small spots and acid discoloration along the margins, which do not impair readability. The original paper publisher’s cover has no losses, is slightly soiled at the edges, and is completely detached from the spine—it is loose.

Catalog ID: 10558x7-29-A-X