Police in the central city of Lodz have retrieved a unique copy of Mickiewicz’s seminal work, ‘Pan Tadeusz’, after it was put on an internet auction site.

The book, published in 1834 in Paris, is an original print edition of the work. It was stolen from a library in Lodz in 1983.

Police found out about the missing book after the municipal library director saw the auction site and informed police about the book’s loss 27 years ago.

It took police a few days to find the seller, who had bids as high as 10,000 zlotys (2,500 euro) for the tome. The book’s sale was to take place today.

A 32-year-old was questioned over the sale, but maintained that he put the book to auction on a friend’s behalf, who confirmed this.

The friend and custodian of the book, another 32-year-old from Lodz, told police he inherited the copy of ‘Pan Tadeusz’ from his grand-mother, and had no idea the book was stolen, even though there are library stamps present in the publication.

No further action has been taken by police.(jb)

Source: tvn24