Maria Piasecka (Kozłowska)

Th e article aims at elucidating relationships between De vanitate mundi, a long poem by a Jesuit poet Jakob Balde (1604–1668), and its two Old-Polish translations from the seventeenth century. Their authors were Zygmunt Brudecki (1610–1647), also a Jesuit, and king’s secretary Jan Libicki (late sixteenth century–1670).
Th e article is divided into fi ve chapters. The German poet and both translators are briefly introduced in the fi rst chapter. Afterwards, the edition of De vanitate mundi which served as the base for the Polish translators is identifi ed. The chronology of the two translations and their interdependence are also described. The four following chapters analyse the translations in detail, revealing the similarities between the two versions and features characteristic for each translator. Finally, the diff erences between Latin and Polish, with which Brudecki and Libicki had to cope in their work, are highlighted. Th e article attempts at demonstrating the complexity of relationships between the three texts and sheds light on Balde’s reception in Poland. More generally, the analysed case illustrates how the Jesuit literature spread in Europe.

BETWEEN THE PRINTING CONVENTION AND THE OLD POLISH PHONETICS
The article discusses difficulties in tracing Old Polish phonetics in an early printed text. It demonstrates the importance of rediscovering the Old Polish phonetics and, at the same time, the limits of such endeavour. The linguistic features are shown to melt with the conventional ways of printing certain words. These conventions have to do with graphic aspects of the text rather than with the real language. The problem is presented primarily by using Old Polish loanwords as an example.

Poema de vanitate mundi of Jakub Balde. A continuation of emblematic tradition and an example of the 17th century mannierism

The article looks at how the mannerist tradition has influenced a seventeenth century long poem Poema de vanitate mundi by German Jesuit poet Jacob Balde (1604–1668). The paper starts with a general introduction about the author and the poem itself. De vanitate mundi has been described as a part of the mannerist tendencies occurring in different times and places (like the importance of conceit in formulating artistic texts or the role of formal means including extensive enumeratio and experimental cutting out of the syllables), as well as shows these features of it which can be directly connected to emblematic tradition of the early modern period. It focuses on three aspects of this tradition. Firstly – the unconventional role of the image in De vanitate mundi with particular emphasis on its connection to the surrounding printed text; secondly – the variety of paraphrases which form a complex, multi-genre structure of the poem; finally – the influence elogium (a phenomenon directly connected to emblem) must have had on Baldes work.
The emblematic tradition has been described as a composite of different tendencies rather than a normative and stable entity. The article aims at tracing this variety of tendencies in Balde poem. Particularly, the Jesuit (or modelled according to Jesuit habits) meditative emblem cycles are presented here as a source of the structure of De vanitate mundi. Also, the article emphasizes how the Jesuit culture influenced the shape and form of De vanitate mundi (e.g. the role of dramatic elements within the paraphrases, the meditative character of the poem or its didactic values).