The Polish Society of Railway Bookstores "Ruch"

Abstract

The author reconstructs the history of the Polish Society of Railway Bookstores "Ruch", active in Cracow in the years 1918-1939, established by the outstanding bookseller Jakub Mortkowicz and Jan Gebethner. The enterprise was joined over time by other stakeholders - either individual or institutional. The author presents the origins and fast development of the company ("Ruch" owned 246 railway bookstores just in 1926), its activities, including distribution of the press, books sales, advertising and publishing activities, as well as its participation in the efforts causing limitations of the freedom of the press, like combating national and communist periodicals after 1926, i.e. after the May Coup of Marshall Józef Piłsudski. Concluding, the author states that during 20 years of its existence "Ruch" had made a great work to organize the Polish press and book market. It also had enormous merits in reading promotion, actually it promoted education among the rural population in particular. It was one "of the very few companies, for which the final financial result was not the only motivation".