PIOTROWSKI- PAMIĘTNIKI Z POBYTU NA SYBERYI RUFIN PIOTROWSKIGO vol. 1-3 [complete in 1 vol.] published in 1860

MEMOIRS FROM A STAY IN SIBERIA BY RUFIN PIOTROWSKI

t. 1-3 [set in 1 vol.]

Poznan 1860, published by J.K.Żupanski Bookstore, pp. VI, 325+335 [2]+; format 13 x 22.5 cm;

"The work of Rufin Piotrowski contains a great deal of valuable information concerning Siberia, the exiles, the Russian administration and the nomadic peoples inhabiting the described territories. From the pages of the diary emerges an interesting picture of the land as seen through the eyes of a deportee, who tries to objectively present the place of his exile. The author's account of Siberian society testifies to a great knowledge of the subject. The author of the memoirs, having been sentenced to a penal servitude himself, perfectly depicted the attitude of free people to the inmates and the penal servants. He accurately reflected the mental state of the latter, their problems and doubts. He referred to the inhabitants of Siberia with great sympathy. He did not hide with his thoughts. He spoke bluntly about the high chances of success of a possible uprising against Russia, which could be the beginning of a process that would give freedom to his homeland.

Rufin Piotrowski (1806-1872) - Political activist and great patriot, participant in the November Uprising, researcher and memoirist.

During the November Uprising he fought in the Battle of Ostrołęka, and also during the defense of Warsaw. In 1833-35 Piotrkowski was a member of the Polish Democratic Society and in order not to be denounced, he made his way to France. He was an emissary of the Hotel Lambert, from where he was sent to his homeland in 1843 to organize Poles for another armed uprising, the result of which was to be the regaining of freedom. A few months after arriving in his homeland, he organized a conspiracy in Kamieniec Podolski. Unfortunately, there he was deconspirated and captured, and after a short investigation he was convicted and imprisoned in Kyiv. After a year's incarceration within the prison walls, Rufin Piotrkovsky was sentenced to a katorga near Omsk. In 1846, he escaped through Solikamsk and Veliky Ustiug, all the way to Arkhangelsk. From there he made his way to St. Petersburg and then to Riga, where he left Russia, reaching France via Königsberg. Arriving in France in 1851, he taught at a Polish school. During the Crimean War (1853), on behalf of Adam Czartoryski and, of course, the Lambert Hotel, Rufin Piotrowski formed a regiment of Sultan's Cossacks in Turkey, tasked with defeating the Russian power. This was a priority task, since Russia was our partitioner and eternal enemy. In 1867 Piotrkowski returned to the country. He wrote ?Memoirs from his stay in Siberia? which were translated into many languages. Thanks to this work, we learn about the wandering fate of many Polish families, their hard life, as well as the climatic conditions there. Rufin Piotrkowski died in 1872 and was buried in the Old Cemetery in Tarnow."

Source: Graf_ika, publisher of the reprint.

HARDCOVER HALF-LEATHER BINDING OF THE PERIOD, EMBOSSING AND GILT TITLING ON THE SPINE

Condition DB/ rubbing of binding, spine tears, rubbed corners, front pastedown in spine, rust spots [foxing].