![Jan Radwański, *The Perpetual Book, or A Most Peculiar Secret* [1862]](https://gcp-la8-storage-cdn.lot-art.com/public/upl/77/Jan-Radwanski-The-Perpetual-Book-or-A-Most-Peculiar-Secret-1862_6ac030ad2bc1d-full-74704100_1790980270-6ac030aeb663b.jpg "Jan Radwański, *The Perpetual Book, or A Most Peculiar Secret* [1862]")
Jan Radwański, *The Perpetual Book, or A Most Peculiar Secret* [1862]
Title: The Book of Eternity, or The Most Remarkable Secret, According to Which No Evil in the World Will Harm a Reasonable Person—Unless He So Desires.
Author: Jan Bartłomiej Radwański (1819–1873) [a Kraków physician, writer, and historian].
Publisher: Kraków, Printed by the “Czas” Printing House.
Year of publication: 1862.
Format: 21 cm.
Volume: [XVI], 41 pp.
Binding: Paperback cover.
This small Kraków print from 1862, commissioned by Jan Radwański, belongs to the tradition of moralizing literature that drew upon the old form of “books of secrets.” According to bibliographic descriptions, this is a reprint of an older text originally published in Poznań in 1689. Hence the Baroque, elaborate title and the archaic character of the work as a whole. The “most peculiar secret” turns out to be the Christian teaching on how a reasonable person can become immune to adversity and injustice. As the title proclaims, no evil will harm him unless he allows it to. The book was printed at the press of the Kraków daily *Czas*, one of the most important publishing houses in Kraków at that time. In that same year, 1862, Radwański also published a treatise titled “On the Year of the Founding of the Kraków University and on the Celebration of Its 500th Anniversary in 1864.”
Jan Bartłomiej Radwański was born on June 1, 1819, in Chrzanów, the son of Wincenty and Magdalena (née Dulowska). He was a physician, and in addition to his medical practice, he devoted himself to literature and history, including the history of Jagiellonian University. He died on May 8, 1873, in Kraków and is buried at the Rakowicki Cemetery.
Provenance: On the title page is a handwritten dedication by the author: “To His Excellency Mr. Jan Kanty Steczkowski, Professor at Jagiellonian University, as a token of sincere respect, the author, J. Radwański.” The recipient was Jan Kanty Steczkowski (1800–1881), a mathematician and astronomer. From 1842 to 1863, he was a professor of elementary mathematics at Jagiellonian University. He wrote the textbook *Elementary Lecture on Mathematics*, was a member of the Krakow Scientific Society, and, beginning in 1854, was the first known permanent summer resident of Zakopane. He received this piece in the year of its publication, while he was still lecturing at the University.
This is a Kraków print bearing the author’s autograph and dedication to a professor at Jagiellonian University. A must-have for collectors of dedicated pieces, collectors of Kraków prints, and scholars of 19th-century Polish moral and religious literature.
Loose-leaf block, clean paper with natural spots, discoloration, and soiling. The paper publisher’s cover is in good condition, with minor losses of brittle paper. This piece requires bookbinding restoration.
Catalog ID: 10589-21-A-X
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Title: The Book of Eternity, or The Most Remarkable Secret, According to Which No Evil in the World Will Harm a Reasonable Person—Unless He So Desires.
Author: Jan Bartłomiej Radwański (1819–1873) [a Kraków physician, writer, and historian].
Publisher: Kraków, Printed by the “Czas” Printing House.
Year of publication: 1862.
Format: 21 cm.
Volume: [XVI], 41 pp.
Binding: Paperback cover.
This small Kraków print from 1862, commissioned by Jan Radwański, belongs to the tradition of moralizing literature that drew upon the old form of “books of secrets.” According to bibliographic descriptions, this is a reprint of an older text originally published in Poznań in 1689. Hence the Baroque, elaborate title and the archaic character of the work as a whole. The “most peculiar secret” turns out to be the Christian teaching on how a reasonable person can become immune to adversity and injustice. As the title proclaims, no evil will harm him unless he allows it to. The book was printed at the press of the Kraków daily *Czas*, one of the most important publishing houses in Kraków at that time. In that same year, 1862, Radwański also published a treatise titled “On the Year of the Founding of the Kraków University and on the Celebration of Its 500th Anniversary in 1864.”
Jan Bartłomiej Radwański was born on June 1, 1819, in Chrzanów, the son of Wincenty and Magdalena (née Dulowska). He was a physician, and in addition to his medical practice, he devoted himself to literature and history, including the history of Jagiellonian University. He died on May 8, 1873, in Kraków and is buried at the Rakowicki Cemetery.
Provenance: On the title page is a handwritten dedication by the author: “To His Excellency Mr. Jan Kanty Steczkowski, Professor at Jagiellonian University, as a token of sincere respect, the author, J. Radwański.” The recipient was Jan Kanty Steczkowski (1800–1881), a mathematician and astronomer. From 1842 to 1863, he was a professor of elementary mathematics at Jagiellonian University. He wrote the textbook *Elementary Lecture on Mathematics*, was a member of the Krakow Scientific Society, and, beginning in 1854, was the first known permanent summer resident of Zakopane. He received this piece in the year of its publication, while he was still lecturing at the University.
This is a Kraków print bearing the author’s autograph and dedication to a professor at Jagiellonian University. A must-have for collectors of dedicated pieces, collectors of Kraków prints, and scholars of 19th-century Polish moral and religious literature.
Loose-leaf block, clean paper with natural spots, discoloration, and soiling. The paper publisher’s cover is in good condition, with minor losses of brittle paper. This piece requires bookbinding restoration.
Catalog ID: 10589-21-A-X
Reserve
Time, Location
Auction House
