![Zofia Urbanowska, *Gucio the Enchanted*. A Novel for Younger Children [1908]](https://gcp-la8-storage-cdn.lot-art.com/public/upl/63/Zofia-Urbanowska-Gucio-the-Enchanted-A-Novel-for-Younger-Children-1908_6ac03090713dd-full-99973800_1790980241-6ac03091f414d.jpg "Zofia Urbanowska, *Gucio the Enchanted*. A Novel for Younger Children [1908]")
Zofia Urbanowska, *Gucio the Enchanted*. A Novel for Younger Children [1908]
Title: Gucio the Enchanted. A Novel for Younger Children.
Author: Zofia Urbanowska (1849–1939) [writer and journalist, author of novels for children and young adults, considered a pioneer of the Polish fantasy novel].
Publisher: Warsaw, Gebethner and Wolff.
Year of publication: 1908. 4th edition.
Format: 21 cm.
Pages: 144, [1], [10] color illustrations.
Binding: cloth (on cardboard).
A story about an eight-year-old, lazy boy named Gucio, whom a fairy turns into a fly to make him atone for his disobedience. As he wanders the world, Gucio learns about the lives of insects and animals, and under their influence, his character changes. The book combines the fairy-tale genre with the popularization of natural history and a celebration of work; it was first published by Gebethner and Wolff in 1883 (the title page reads 1884) with ten color illustrations based on drawings by C. Janowski, and it quickly became one of the most popular Polish children’s books. Today, it is considered one of the first Polish fantasy-nature novels. Among those who read it as children were Aleksander Wat, Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz, and Czesław Miłosz read it as children, and Miłosz titled his 1965 poetry collection *Guciem zaczarowanym*. The piece presented here retains the complete set of ten color plates.
Zofia Kamila Urbanowska was born on May 15, 1849, in Kowalewko near Konin, the daughter of the impoverished nobleman Wincenty and Katarzyna (née Modelska); she died on January 1, 1939, in Konin. At the age of 21, she began working as a journalist for *Gazeta Polska* and as a proofreader; and from 1874 she lived in Warsaw as a boarder of Jadwiga Sikorska, in a tenement house where the poet Deotyma also lived and held her salon. She contributed to *Przegląd Tygodniowy*, *Wieczory Rodzinne*, and *Kronika Rodzinna*, and from 1886 onward, she was a member of the editorial board of *Przegląd Pedagogiczny*. She made her literary debut with the novella *Znakomitość* under the pseudonym J., and in addition to *Gucio Zaczarowany*, she wrote, among other works, *Atlanta* (1893) and *Księżniczka*. In 1929, she was awarded the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta. In 1910, she returned to Konin.
Provenance: a piece without ownership inscriptions or stamps.
An item for collectors of early Polish children’s literature and turn-of-the-century book illustrations. A classic of Polish children’s literature, in an edition featuring a complete set of color plates.
4th edition. Loose block, a few pages coming loose; paper with numerous smudges from handling, minor stains, and spots; complete set of color plates preserved. Cloth binding on cardboard, loose.
Catalog ID: 13291-21-A-X
Title: Gucio the Enchanted. A Novel for Younger Children.
Author: Zofia Urbanowska (1849–1939) [writer and journalist, author of novels for children and young adults, considered a pioneer of the Polish fantasy novel].
Publisher: Warsaw, Gebethner and Wolff.
Year of publication: 1908. 4th edition.
Format: 21 cm.
Pages: 144, [1], [10] color illustrations.
Binding: cloth (on cardboard).
A story about an eight-year-old, lazy boy named Gucio, whom a fairy turns into a fly to make him atone for his disobedience. As he wanders the world, Gucio learns about the lives of insects and animals, and under their influence, his character changes. The book combines the fairy-tale genre with the popularization of natural history and a celebration of work; it was first published by Gebethner and Wolff in 1883 (the title page reads 1884) with ten color illustrations based on drawings by C. Janowski, and it quickly became one of the most popular Polish children’s books. Today, it is considered one of the first Polish fantasy-nature novels. Among those who read it as children were Aleksander Wat, Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz, and Czesław Miłosz read it as children, and Miłosz titled his 1965 poetry collection *Guciem zaczarowanym*. The piece presented here retains the complete set of ten color plates.
Zofia Kamila Urbanowska was born on May 15, 1849, in Kowalewko near Konin, the daughter of the impoverished nobleman Wincenty and Katarzyna (née Modelska); she died on January 1, 1939, in Konin. At the age of 21, she began working as a journalist for *Gazeta Polska* and as a proofreader; and from 1874 she lived in Warsaw as a boarder of Jadwiga Sikorska, in a tenement house where the poet Deotyma also lived and held her salon. She contributed to *Przegląd Tygodniowy*, *Wieczory Rodzinne*, and *Kronika Rodzinna*, and from 1886 onward, she was a member of the editorial board of *Przegląd Pedagogiczny*. She made her literary debut with the novella *Znakomitość* under the pseudonym J., and in addition to *Gucio Zaczarowany*, she wrote, among other works, *Atlanta* (1893) and *Księżniczka*. In 1929, she was awarded the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta. In 1910, she returned to Konin.
Provenance: a piece without ownership inscriptions or stamps.
An item for collectors of early Polish children’s literature and turn-of-the-century book illustrations. A classic of Polish children’s literature, in an edition featuring a complete set of color plates.
4th edition. Loose block, a few pages coming loose; paper with numerous smudges from handling, minor stains, and spots; complete set of color plates preserved. Cloth binding on cardboard, loose.
Catalog ID: 13291-21-A-X
