Sindbad the Sailor. Lwów: Gubrynowicz I Syn, 1909, pp. 53.
(19 x 14 cm)
AN1489
/ Wydawca: Prof. P. Postel. / [48mm double rule] / BIBLIOTEKA ANGIELSKA. / [26mm rule] / ZESZYT II. / Sindbad the Sailor. / Adapted from [13mm rule] / the ‘Arabian Nights’ / Wraz ze slowniczkiem i wymowa. Do uzytku / w szkolach i do prywatnej nauki. / [illustration: herb sprig] / LWÓW. / GUBRYNOWICZ I SYN. / 1908. /
This is another English reader. This time for the Polish speaker. It was printed in the city of Lwów when it was still part of the Austro-Hungarian empire. That empire didn’t survive the First World War. Lwów is the Polish name for what is now Lviv in the Ukraine. Lviv was founded in the mid-13th century and in 1704 was partitioned from Poland and given to Austria. In the first half of the 20th century Lviv was occupied by the Soviets, Ukrainians, Poles, and Germans.[1]
This a small book, with much wear. It’s another of those rare Arabian Nights books that are not particularly important, but there just are not any copies floating around. I saw my first copy just a few months ago. Worldcat lists only a single copy, in the National Library of Poland. Unfortunately, my copy is missing a signature of 4 pages which I didn’t notice until I recently had a much closer look at it.
According to one site [2] the publisher was founded as Gubrynowicz & Schmidt in 1868. In 1908 Schmidt gave his share of the company to Gubrynowicz’s son and the company name changed in 1909 to Gubrynowicz and Son. In 1945 business ceased. Despite the 1908 date on the title page, the publisher is listed as Gubrynowicz and Son. Thus, the book was most likely printed in 1909 or later. Supporting this is the fact that the included Glossary has a title page dated 1909 and the two, the Sindbad text and the glossary are continuously paged.
TOC
Sindbad the Sailor
Sindbad’s First Voyage
Sindbad’s Second Voyage
Sindbad’s Third Voyage
Sindbad’s Fourth Voyage
Sindbad’s Fifth and Sixth Voyages
Sindbad’s Seventh Voyage
Glossary
[1] “Lviv”. Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/place/Lviv-Ukraine
[2] “Gubrynowicz & Schmidt”. IMSLP Petrucci Music Library, https://imslp.org/wiki/Gubrynowicz_%26_Schmidt
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