Zofia Dębicka — introligatorka z warszawskiej elity

Zofia Dębicka (1874–1954), wife of the writer Zdzisław Dębicki, was a bookbinder. Her bindings were highly appreciated and presented at exhibitions; she also taught bookbinding. Her main oeuvre were bindings for books from her husband’s library, which was destroyed during the Warsaw Uprising. The discovery and analysis of the remnants of the collection have revealed that Dębicka perfectly mastered the traditional French bookbinding technique and was very meticulous in her wok, using high quality materials. The decorations were modest and drew on historical styles. Dębicka’s bindings are excellent examples of the model of perfect bibliophile binding advocated by Zdzisław Dębicki in his publication Książka i człowiek [Book and Human].