The Complete Works vol. 9: The Grand Duchy of Poznań part 1. Wrocław – Poznań 1963, pp. IV+320, two color plates. Photo-offset re-edition: Cracow 1875.

The first part of the seven-volume ethnographic monograph on Great Poland provides a complete picture of the folk culture of the region. It concerns the area of Poznań and central part of Great Poland. The book includes a description of the country, arranged according to the districts in Kolberg’s day, population (here the outfits, food, architecture, occupations), customs of the annual cycle, family rites (baptism, funeral, 8 weddings), as well as games and entertainments. The ethnographic description is accompanied by 122 songs and melodies without text, associated with customs, rites and folk games. Kolberg included relatively little material from his own field work in the volume; the material taken from literature and originating from the so-called szematas prevails in this part. Szematas were questionnaires sent around the area in 1868 by the Poznań Society of Friends of Sciences with questions on topography, ethnography and history. The purpose of the investigation was to prepare as complete a historical and statistical picture of the Grand Duchy of Poznań as possible. This purpose, however, had never been realized. The materials being accessible to Kolberg considerably enriched his monograph on Great Poland, basically in the domain of wedding rites and outfits. Of the printed sources Kolberg utilized, most thoroughly, the works of J. Łukaszewicz and £. Raczyński, E. Kierski, L. Plater, as well as numerous articles from ‘Przyjaciel Ludu’ [Friend of the People], published in Leszno.