The Series Technical Publications of the Ministry of Communication (1934–1939; 1946–1948)

Abstract

The article deals with the beginnings of the Polish railway technological literature during the interwar period. It discusses the historical and typographical issues of the series entitled Wydawnictwa Techniczne Ministerstwa Komunikacji (The Technical Publications of the Ministry of Communication), opened in 1935, by the monograph Hamulce kolejowe (Railway Brakes) by eng. Mieczysław Zabłocki. During the years 1935–1939, there appeared twenty volumes in the series. Most of them were related to the technological issues of railway construction and development, although one dealt with air transportation, and one with installing and operating cable car lines (aerial tramways). World War II brought an abrupt end to the publishing of the series, but it was revived with the second edition of Zabłocki’smonograph of railway braeks in 1946. Through 1948 twelve volumes were published; once again chiefly concerned with railway technology. The only exception was the collective publication edited by eng. Tadeusz Tillinger entitled Drogi wodne (The Waterways). Both during the interwar period and after the Second World War, the volumes comprising the series Technical Publications of the Ministry of Communication were an important source of specialized information for railway employees in Poland. The work on the series within the Ministry of Communication also stimulated publishing activities of the appropriate ministerial departments.