[Biblia Gdańska] Biblia swięta: to iest, Księga Pisma Swietego starego y nowy przymierza z zydowskiego y greckie Języka na polski pilnie y wiernie tłumaczone, a teraz pod Gdańskiego exemplarza przedrukowane. Amsterdam 1660.

[Biblia Gdańska] Biblia swięta: to iest, the Books of the Holy Scriptures of the old and new covenant from the Jewish and Greek Language into Polish diligently and faithfully translated, and now according to the Gdański exemplar reprinted.

Estr. XIII, pp. 18-19.

The Polish 17th-century Reformers, despite the publication of the Brest and Nesvizh Bibles, felt the need to put into circulation a new - cheaper, more handy to read and closer to the original text - translation. The role of translator was undertaken by the senior of the Greater Poland congregations, Daniel Mikolajewski (1560-1633). The printing appeared in Gdansk in 1632 in the outhouse of Andrzej Hunefeld. The text was printed traditionally in two columns and in a simple typographic frame. Fine schwabach was used (except for the dedication to the king distinguished by a larger Latin font), but beautiful, legible and adapted to the requirements of Polish orthography. To fit the voluminous text into such a small volume, the printing was heavily condensed. To save space, the decorative material was limited to small vignettes and Gothic initials Correction work was carried out by 10 proofreaders, and yet mistakes were not avoided. One in particular proved fatal in its consequences. Due to a printing error in Matthew 4:1 ("Then Jesus was disappointed in the wilderness from the Spirit, so that he was tempted to the Dyabble" - instead of "from the Dyabble"), the edition was placed on the Index of Forbidden Books and placed under the curse of the Archbishop of Gniezno, Jan Snake . As a result, pieces were deliberately destroyed, and despite the high circulation (about 2500-3000) only approx. 30 pieces.

The Gdansk Bible is one of the most beautiful and enduring linguistic, literary and typographical monuments of the Reformation. Despite initial controversy, it became the translation used by the Polish Reformers for many years. Its second edition was published in 1660 by the Amsterdam outhouse of Christopher Cunrad and was a faithful reprint of the previous version, which retained almost identical format and typographical layout. Minor differences are limited to the numbering of the verses in a frame on the right side of the column (not in two between the columns as before) and the transfer of signatures and custodians to separate frames at the bottom of the page. Above that, this time the fatal mistake in translating Mat. 4:1 and instead of the phrase "that he might be tempted to the Dybbels" the correct "from the Dybbels" was printed. (after J. Matyasik, The Bible Through the Ages. The oldest Polish translations r of the Holy Scriptures in the collection of the Provincial and Municipal Public Library in Bydgoszcz)

Year of publication: Amsterdam 1660, in the printing house of Chrysztoff Cunrad

pp. [14], 898, 219, 286, 6. [minor errors in pagination: p. 745 erroneously marked as 645; p. 481 erroneously marked as 581].

lack of copperplate title page ; last 2 pages [in chapter Passya albo Historya o Mece, Smierci y Pogrzebie naszej Pan...].

Format: 19 x 12 cm

Binding: full leather on board / period facings / later spine and lining [wrong date MDCXXII on spine] / brass clasps with leather straps, buckles on edges of facings [one buckle later, without decoration].

Condition: consistent, 3 cards missing, minor rust discoloration [foxing - no harm to text], minor dry marks of former flooding in places [paper discoloration - no harm to text], minor losses and tears to edges of 8 cards [no harm to text], first card underglued, filling of bottom corner of one card [minor harm to text in chapter"Ewangeley Register.."], rare underlining and early marginalia in the text, foreign numerical signatures on the title page [pencil, pen], [PROVENANCE: on the first page and on the title page stamps "from the book collection of Rev. Br. Artke "*], cover with rubbing, soiling and small holes, loss of the top cover on the edges of the spine

RARE

PROVENANCE:

" The piece on display until 1939 was in the book collection of Bronislaw Walerian Artke - a priest of the Plock diocese and president of the Plock branch of the Polish Red Cross. In September 1939, observing the first arrests of teachers, priests, clerks and other representatives of the city's intelligentsia, Artke began to sense what fate awaited him as well. So he decided to divide his most valuable book collection and secure it by giving it as a deposit. This is how a piece of the Gdansk Bible ended up in the hands of Barbara Piotrowiak, a Plock dressmaker and milliner. As an active participant in Catholic organizations and the Polish Red Cross, she was a trustworthy person for the priest. From the oral accounts of Ms. Barbara herself, it was clear that, leaving his most valuable volumes in her hands, he was convinced that he would be arrested. In doing so, he stated that if he survived, he would come forward to claim them after the war and if he did not return, they would become her property. The priest's fears turned out to be justified. He was arrested by the Germans on April 5, 1940. From April 19, 1940, he was imprisoned in the Dachau Concentration Camp, and then from May 25, 1940, in the Gusen I Concentration Camp, where he slaved in the quarries. From there he was transported back to KL Dachau concentration camp on December 8, 1940. Finally, in May 1942, completely exhausted, he was taken in the so-called German "Invalidentransport" to the TA Hartheim Euthanasia Center and murdered in the gas chamber. Barbara Piotrowiak survived the war thanks in part to her excellent command of the German language, which also allowed her to carry out extremely daring actions, such as visiting the Plock prison impersonating a representative of the German Red Cross - in order to discern who among the residents had been arrested. After the war, she married Kazimierz Gelinek, who was well-known among the city's intelligentsia. Born in 1882 in Brzeżany (now western Ukraine), Kazimierz served in the 7th Uhlan regiment. Then, led by a passion for science and dreams of education, he accepted a teaching job. This profession rekindled Gelink's love of nature. As a result, in 1922 he enrolled in the geography department at the Institute of Prof. Ludomir Sawicki in Cracow, and then, after 2 years, moved to Vilnius, where he obtained a diploma as a teacher of general secondary schools and teachers' seminaries. He took up a job as a teacher in Plock, and began working with the Museum and the Plock Scientific Society It was during this period of his life that he began to explore the secrets of archaeology. As a result, before the war he became the head of the archaeological-ethnographic department of the Plock Mazovia Museum of TNP, named after Prof. Ignacy Moscicki, and later its first director. In 1939, German soldiers broke into the museum and began looting the antiquities stored there. Gelinek protested loudly and as a result was accused of insulting the uniform of a German soldier. On April 9, 1940, he was arrested and transported to the concentration camp in Działdów. He was then transferred to Dachau Concentration Camp, eventually ending up at Mauthausen-Gusen Concentration Camp in Upper Austria. Almost immediately he was assigned to work in a quarry, and in time lived to be transferred to earthwork on the construction of the railroad. At that time, he came across a valuable archaeological site and managed to persuade the camp authorities to report it to the Reich Historic Preservation Institute. The camp was visited by the director of the Institute for the Protection of Monuments, and the very next day prisoner Kazimierz Gelinek was commissioned to conduct archaeological research He was assigned an assistant, Hertha von Orel, and preparator Josef Vockenhuber, as well as 30 men, the so-called "Spielberg Kommando," prisoners for the earthwork (Gelinek recruited the physically weak, who would not have survived the work in the quarries, for the work). Soon after the first discoveries were made, Gelinek received orders to create a camp museum, where the materials obtained during the archaeological work were then displayed and processed. One of the prison barracks was allocated for this purpose. The work was moving forward and meeting the expectations of the Nazis, so before Christmas 1942 the camp commandant ordered the research team to prepare a monograph summarizing the work to date. The book was to be accurate and richly illustrated with drawings of monuments, enriched with topographical data, geological profiles and many other details. This was not an easy task, as a deadline was also set for the monograph to be ready. It fell on December 21 of the same year. The goal was achieved and one of the five pieces produced at the time, was handed to Himmler during his second visit to the camp. Excavation work continued until the camp was liberated by American troops. After leaving the camp and returning to Poland, the physically and mentally devastated Gelinek learned that both his wife and daughter had died. Left destitute, he slept on the street or after friends until he finally managed to find a job at a technical school and then at the High School for Working People. Friends introduced him to Barbara Piotrowiak, who was also single. The couple married and settled in Plock at 9 Kolegiala St. After Kazimierz Gelink's death on April 27, 1969, the couple's rich book collection - mainly scientific publications - was donated to the Zieliński Library of the Plock Scientific Society, in accordance with the deceased's will. However, Mrs. Barbara, faithful to the word given to Father Artke years ago, kept the donated old prints, including the Gdansk Bible, in her personal book collection. She mentioned that despite being aware of the priest's death, she could not sell or give them away. Rev. Artke's deposit remained in Barbara Gelinek's hands until the end of her life. And after her death,on March 7, 1983, in accordance with the will of the deceased, it went into the hands of the present owner, whom she raised as a nanny, foster grandmother and treated and loved as her own child."

(per 1.Martyrology of the clergy - 20th century Poland. (years 1914 - 1989), Roman Catholic Parish of St. Sigismund Slomczyn; 2.Relation and recollections of Barbara Gelinek; 3.Archaeological Review, vol 59, 2011, pp. 167-183.; 4. Notatki Płockie 3 (140), 1989, pp. 43-47.; 5. Feliks Załachowski: Gusen - obóz śmierci, Poznań 1946.; 6.Handwritten notes by Kazimierz Gelinek, DM private archive)

The provenance description was prepared by Dariusz Mioduski - owner of the Bible