[LĘTOWSKI Ludwik] Miscellanea. Tom I. Cracow 1866

[LĘTOWSKI Ludwik] Miscellanea. Volume I. In Cracow. Published by the Publishing House of Catholic Works. W. Wielogłowski and Jaworski. 1866.
PP. [2], 280, IV. Height: 21.5 cm. Half-leather binding of the period. Facings covered with decorative marbled paper. Book from the library of the Krzywaczka Estate - "Library of the Krzywaczka Dominion". - as evidenced by the exlibris on the inside of the front cover.
Condition: in places minor foxing, soiling (sometimes stronger) and traces of former dampstaining (on margins of pages). Minor loss of marg. of pages 159/160, tear of pages 245-252, loss of upper margin of pp. 251/252 and strong tear of the same. Underlining and minor notations in pencil in places.

Only volume 1 was published.

Ludwik Łętowski (1786-1868) - historian and writer, auxiliary bishop of Cracow, member of the Senate of the Republic of Cracow. He graduated from the officers' school in Vienna, and served in the army of the Congress Kingdom, among others. He was ordained in 1818. From 1825 he was appointed canon of Krakow, then administrator and auxiliary bishop. During the 1846 uprising, he recommended submission to the invaders and fled to Vienna for a time.
He was the author of excellent studies, among others: "Cracow Cathedral at Wawel" (1859) and "Catalogue of Bishops, Prelates and Canons of Cracow" (1852-53).

Published anonymously in 1866, "Miscellanea" was originally planned for three volumes (only one was published). They contain rich memoir material, consisting of descriptions and anecdotes, often exposing the dark sides of well-known Krakow families and clergy. For this reason, the book was, even during the author's lifetime, bought out by the hierarchy, among others, and destroyed. Henryk Barącz, a researcher of Bishop Ludwik Lêtowski's works, calls this edition an "arch-rarity" due to the few pieces that have survived to our times for the reasons mentioned above.