The January Uprising in European press illustration. Graphics from the collection of Krzysztof Kura

Warsaw 2014/ Museum of Polish History/ first edition/ publisher's binding, hardback/ 28x34cm/s.623/ 414 engravings in the text with technical descriptions and explanations/ very good condition

Scenes from the January Uprising, portraits of its participants, symbols, allegories and political satires. More than 400 graphics from 19th century European magazines, commenting on the Polish uprising of 1863.

The authors of the publication "The January Uprising in European Press Illustration. Graphics from the Collection of Krzysztof Kura" are Anna Grochala, Ewa Milicer and Kamilla Pijanowska. These are woodcuts and lithographs from French, English, Italian and German-language magazines from 1861-1868, accompanied by detailed information about the featured event, place and the graphic itself.

In addition, the album includes a foreword by Krzysztof Kura, who describes the collection he is creating. There is also a preface outlining the historical background of the illustrations presented, titled "The Echoes of the January Uprising on the Polish State of Warsaw". "Echoes of the January Uprising in Western Europe" by Prof. Dr. Wieslaw Caban, and a chapter on the graphics themselves, "The January Uprising in 19th Century Press Illustration," written by one of the authors of the study, Anna Grochala.

The graphics are divided thematically into several sections: events, portraits, types and folk and military clothing, symbolic and allegorical representations and satire. Additional values of the album are also detailed biographies of the authors of the illustrations, a full bibliography and an index of magazine illustrations. At the same time, it should be emphasized that the album is not only a superbly compiled catalog of engravings, but is above all an interesting historical book for anyone who would like to learn more about the January Uprising.

From a review by Dr. Jolanta Talbierskaya: "the work is a pioneering attempt to systematize and discuss European press illustration related to the January Uprising
in the historical and artistic aspect. It is enough to say about the significance of this event that the publication so conceived is the first of its kind in Poland and on a universal scale."