RACZYŃSKI Edward, Gabinet medalów polskich oraz tych które się dziejów Polski tyczą [...], Poznań 1841, Wrocław 1843, Berlin 1845

Piece Ex. Marciniak 15/1474 currently on display much cheaper due to the sale of the numismatic library, due to the change of residence of the collector.

A set of catalogs by Count Edward Raczynski from 1841-45, the first two volumes in the Berlin edition (1845), from the library of Rudolf Mękicki of Lvov (ownership stamps on the first sheet). Covering Polish medals up to the Saxon era, they were so popular at the time that they had two editions (Berlin and Wroclaw). Today they are the most readily available volumes in the series.

The most difficult to obtain, on the other hand, is Volume 3 covering the Saxon era. It was published in the smallest edition, due to the low interest in this era during the partitions.

Volume 4 also had only one edition, but due to the popularity of Stanislavski medals, it has been widely dispersed among collectors and is now very difficult to obtain. All of the aforementioned rarities are found in the present set.

The first two volumes in beautiful state of preservation, in a consistent red binding. Volume 3, bought later, bound in the same workshop, differs in color (slightly darker). The interior is preserved very well, with the widest margins of all four. In the weakest condition is volume 4, with a noticeably smaller format (more trimmed pages). The skillfully selected binding makes the spines of all volumes the same height, although the block of volume 4 is noticeably shorter, as can be seen from the top or side. Volume 4 lacks a title page and has a smudged ownership stamp on the first page. Otherwise good state of preservation.

Bindings made contemporaneously by the Librarium studio, in full leather with embossing and gilding and the GNDM dry seal. Sides of the blocks waxed. High quality binding, with great aesthetic value.

A very nice set of an important catalog of the Cabinet of Polish Medals, hardly available in the original, which, despite the passage of years, still remains the only publication so comprehensively elaborating the medal-making of the time of Royal Poland.

Provenance: volumes 1-2 with the ownership stamp of Rudolf Mękicki. Additionally with a small paste "D-ra Władysław Miłkowski Catholic Bookstore in KRAKOW".

Format: 20 x 26 cm.