Gwiazda. Pismo zbiorowe.

Saint Petersburg, Karol Kray, 1846. 8vo. Contemporary Polish half-calf over marbled boards, spine lettered diagonally in gilt, ornamented in blind; pp. x, [2], 246, [12], lithographic portrait-frontispiece, one plate of musical score, one woodcut vignette; tail of spine worn, a little rubbed, internally, apart from occasional very light spotting, a very good copy; provenance: stamp of the Polish National Library (1920s) on title and one further leaf. First edition. This extremely rare volume of collected poetry, translations and essays was published (and contributed to) by Zenon Fisch (Fisz, Fiss, pseudonym Tadeusz Padalica), who was a Polish publicist and essayist (1820, Berlorussia - 1870, Ukraine). He unites in this volume, which was published to raise funds for the reconstruction of a Polish church near Vilnius, two translations of Pushkin, excerpts from Byron, essays on music and literature. Most contributors were Poles living in the Russian Empire outside Poland, the majority in Saint Petersburg, one in Orenburg (north of the Caspian Sea), one in the Caucasus region, and one as far north as Petrozavodsk in Karelia. A list of subscribers contains the names of about 500 Polish readers, residents of Poland or in exile. Fisch published three more annual volumes up to 1849, from 1847 onwards in Kiev. Provenance: The Polish National Library holds three copies and they informed my supplier that there were sales before the Second World War; however, the buyers can not be traced anymore. We were only able to locate the title via the Polish Union Catalogue NUKAT.