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Some time ago, Prof. Jarosław Dumanowski, head of the Culinary Heritage Centre at the History Department of Copernicus University in Toruń, advised me to take interest in the collection of old hand-written recipes that are held in the archives of [http://muzeum.jedrzejow.pl/o-nas/zbiory Przypkowski Museum in Jędrzejów]. It's a museum of sundials, though, isn't it, was my initial reaction, which anyone who's ever heard anything about that institution, will surely understand.
Well, yes, the unique collection of sundials, said to be the world's third largest, is what the museum is best known for. It was the local doctor, Feliks Przypkowski, who started collecting sundials in 1895, a hobby later taken up by his son, Tadeusz Przypkowski. HoweverTadeusz, not only did Tadeuszhowever, a true Renaissance man, didn't just continue his father's passion, he but also had several of his own; his interests included the history of arts and astronomy, printmaking and bromoil photography, bibliophilia and bookplates, heraldry and numismatics... as well as the enjoyment of good food and drink.
Before World War II, Tadeusz Przypkowski obtained his PhD in arts history at Jagiellonian University in Cracow and followed his studies with extensive travels (including Germany, Italy, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, England, Spain, Portugal, North Africa, the Balkan Peninsula, Norway and Estonia). Back in Poland, he got a job as a cultural propaganda specialist -- first in Cracow and later in Warsaw. Back then, the word ``propaganda" didn't yet carry negative the connotation it does today; think of it as equivalent to ``promotion" or ``public relations". His duties as a cultural propagandist in Cracow included showing high-ranking foreign visitors around the historic monuments of Poland's former capital (among others, he had the questionable honour of serving as a tourist guide to Josef Goebbels, the German minister of propaganda). Eventually, he settled down back home in Jędrzejów -- a small town on the road from Kielce to Cracow -- once the war broke out, but still kept in touch with many interesting people from various countries, especially France. ``I am to be found either in Paris," he was fond of saying, ``or in Jędrzejów."<ref>{{Cyt