Księgarnia Akademicka Publishing began as a bookstore of the same name, established in 1992 in Krakow, specializing in the distribution of academic literature, especially publications of the Jagiellonian University. In fact, from the very beginning, many people, also from abroad had a high opinion of what we do. Ms. Krystyna Bednarczyk, a distinguished editor and publisher, founder of the Oficyna Poetów i Malarzy [Poets’ and Painters’ Press] in London, one of the largest publishing houses of Polish literature in exile after the end of World War II, in her correspondence from 1995 wrote some warm words about our activities:
It was nice to see you again and see how your bookshop has developed. It is admirable, knowing the rather difficult conditions of both sales and distribution. Congratulations.
Krystyna Bednarczykowa
Archives of Poets’ and Painters’ Press, Correspondence, Księgarnia Akademicka.
In subsequent years, we gradually expanded and finally, we started our own publishing activities. In this way, for nearly 30 years we have been present both in the Krakow and the Polish academic community as a bookstore and a publishing house. The latter was appreciated in 2019, as we appeared on the scored list of publishers of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education. Moreover, taking into account the dynamic development of technology, significantly influencing academic communication, we have boldly entered the world of electronic publications and the Internet. In addition to our bookstore located near the Main Market Square in Krakow, in a historic building of the oldest Polish university, we also run an online bookstore, and for several years we have been developing an online platform presenting electronic versions of our publications.
In publishing, we specialize mainly in the humanities and social disciplines, although we are also familiar with the medical field. We have published nearly 3,000 titles – monographs, collective monographs, source editions, post-conference and jubilee volumes, as well as textbooks and dictionaries. Some of them are published as part of academic publishing series – we are currently running over 30 of these. We also supervise and publish 15 academic journals.
Although the vast majority of our books are academic publications, we are also open to popular science titles and the so-called niche literature, including:
- regional literature – especially on Krakow, as well as monographs and albums related to other cities;
- belles-lettres, including translations of works from less popular world literature (e.g. Catalan, Armenian, Argentinean), poetry, contemporary drama and editions of undiscovered gems of old Polish literature;
- catalogues of collections and exhibitions of museums and other cultural institutions.
Our aim is to maintain independence in the selection of works to be published. At the same time, bearing in mind the ethos of academic work and striving to get closer to the truth – as the “greatest treasure of mankind”, according to the wording of the PhD oath – by scientific methods, we publish works written from many different perspectives and we pay special attention to the properly conducted review process, consistent with international ethical principles regarding academic publications. For more, go to the tab Publishing Policies.
