Sorry I am a new member ,and only speak a little Polish , I am trying to learn , but it takes time. I am a retired English mountaineer , and now collect signed books , expedition postcards and posters on only Polish mountaineering as a hobby. It is almost impossible to find any items outside of Poland and therefore would like to ask members if they know of anywhere , or anyone who has such items to trade or sell. I have several items that I have collected over the last ten years, since being a active climber, and that is why I am trying to learn Polish, so as to read the books, as there are virtually none in English. I am very interested in the history of mountaineering, especially on the 8000 metre peaks, and have been to several lectures in the UK over the last few years to listen to some great climbers, Messner Loretan ,Habeler, and many British climbers, but sadly now ,many of the early pioneers are no longer with us. Some day I hope to visit Ladek and hear some stories from your great climbers as well. Regards . Joe Connah

I think it is best to get the signature of the author the publication or other book at live meetings, such as in Lądek, Krakowski Festiwal Górski or Kolosy at Gdynia. And otherwise it is searching in second-hand bookstores.

Thank you, I have had many English books signed at festivals in the UK , but it is expensive to travel abroad now I am retired, but hope one day to travel to Ladek. Second hand bookshops in the UK unfortunately have no interest in Polish mountaineering books, it is a very small part of world mountaineering, and virtually no books in English,that is why I try to buy from Poland. Thank you for the advice. Joe

Try here: https://www.ksiazkigor.pl/ https://www.ksiegarnia.z-ne.pl/
maybe write to them.
Regards,
Pablo

Thankyou Pablo, I have bought from them in the past, mostly new signed books ,and they have been a good source for that, unfortunately a lot of stores will not send books overseas, and will not even communicate to me, Possibly because they do not speak English, and I do try to send a translation , but web translation can be bad I understand. Joe

Hi Joe, how are you? Quite an interesting post you've written over here..
Yes, you're right, it is a challenge to find those "items" in English. But I'll keep this in mind and let you know in case of finding anything like that.
Joe, when did you retire (from mountaineering)? Was it an all over the world thing? And where does the interest on/in "only Polish mountaineering" come from?
Also, can you show us (tell us about) some (of the) examples of your collection?
Thank you and take care,,

Jan

(let me know if any other form of help is needed)

Sorry about late reply I am not at home, travelling to see several relatives we have not seen for a long time, in areas of the UK.I retired 10 years ago from climbing at 60, with joint problems, so decided to collect books on the history of mountaineering, with about 400 books eventually ,which I read, then other items, signed ice axes , by Hillary and Diemberger, and expedition postcards and posters. On reaching 70 I decided to sell most of the signed books to collector friends, as no one in my family was interested in them, so most are now gone, but I became more and more interested in Polish climbers and their great achievements in the Himalayas . With virtually no books in English , I collected Polish language books signed by the authors, and eventually have recently started to learn the language, so as to be eventually able to read them, but as you know Polish is very difficult, but I will try. I have books signed by Rutkiewicz Bielecki , Cichy, Czerwinska, Hajzer, Kurczab,Ryzard Pawlowski, Piotr Pustelnik and Wielicki . Books signed by Kukuczka , Tadeusz Piotrowski, Andrej Zawada I still need, I have a few Expedition postcards signed by Zawada and Kukuczka but nothing by Piotrowski. Climbing history, I was a big hiker from the age of 14 , and started climbing late at 30, up to HVS 5a only though, the odd E1, in the Uk summer and winter, a lot on Skye and Scotland every weekend with my local club. and every month a weekend at a mountain hut, for 30 years. Very little abroad , Via ferrata in the Dolomites , Chamonix some sport climbing with my wife, a lot of hiking in Austria and Switzerland, Germany, and skiing in Italy, Austria and Bulgaria. Sorry it all had to end but my interest in mountaineering as never ended, still follow the history, and collect Polish items. Will try and put some images on the forum of my expedition cards.Best wishes . Joe

Thank you Joe, great stories, awesome names - Hillary, Diemberger, of course the Polish mountaineers as well..
Sounds like you're quite a climber yourself; those are really good grades/levels. And sport climbing with your wife.. admirable stuff.
Yes, the covid did cause a lot of turmoil through the world, so it's nice to hear that you can now travel and spend time with relatives, friends.
Safe travels Joe,
Regards,

Jan