Rozmowa Polaka z Włochem (A Discussion between a Pole and an Italian) – on the history of editions

Abstract

Rozmowa Polaka z Włochem (A Discussion between a Pole and an Italian) is one of the most important political works by Łukasz Górnicki. Written at the end of the 16th century, it was repeatedly reprinted from the 17th century until today. It is also a widely known example of Polish literary plagiatrism: in 1616 Rozmowa was published by Jędrzej Suski as his own work. For a long time Suski edition was considered to be identical with the anonymous version of Rozmowa published sine anno and sine loco, but in 2008 Anna Sitkowa described the actual plagiatrized version with the dedication letter signed by Suski himself. Moreover, typographical analyses of the anonymous version of Rozmowa indicate that it was in fact printed in 1630s, and thus it is not a first, but a third edition of the work. Determining the correct order of editions has significant consequences regarding textual history and criticism.