The Adventures of Mr Nicholas Wisdom by Krasicki

The Adventures of Mr Nicholas Wisdom by Krasicki

Winner, 1997 National Book Award for Poetry Winner, 1993 PEN Book-of-the-Month Club Translation Prize Published in 1776 and considered the first Polish novel ever written, The Adventures of Mr. Nicholas Wisdom is a picaresque tale following the naïve title character's coming of age. Having conquered (and fled) sophisticated Warsaw, Nicholas enjoys many adventures across Europe, South America, and the high seas. He finally lands among the natives of an unknown isle who reject his allegedly superior European ways and instead tutor him for an "enlightened" existence. Resonant with Enlightenment ideas, The Adventures of Mr. Nicholas Wisdom provides a sly portrait of the era's Polish society and a fascinating perspective on the broader problems of eighteenth-century European culture.

The book is a real find, not only in its dynamic synthesis of all the best literary models of the time—Fielding's Tom Jones, Rousseau's Emile, Voltaire's Candide, and Defoe's Robinson Crusoe—but also in the fleet Swiftian prose" —Chicago Tribune

Being the youngest son of a prominent Polish family, gnacy Krasicki (1735-1801) entered the Church. His talents and ambitions finally took him to the See of Gniezno in North-Western Poland, where he reigned as Primate of Poland from 1795 until his death. He was a close friend of Poland's last monarch, Stanislaw August Poniatowski, and delivered the homily at his coronation in Warsaw. As the diocese of Warmia fell under the Prussian Empire's borders as a result of Poland's partitions, Prussian King Friedrich II cultivated Krasicki's friendship. The Monachomachia is claimed to have been written by Krasicki in the palace of Sans-Souci.

Krasicki, more than anybody else in Poland, dominated the eighteenth century. In all literary genres, he excelled, but especially in verse satires (Satyry, 1778-1779) and fables (Bajki i pryzpowieści, 1776-1778). The Mouseiad (Myszeis, 1775), Monachomachia (1778), and Anti-Monachomachia (1778), are among the best mock epics ever written. With his Mikolaja Doświadczyńskiego Przypadki (Adventures of Mikolaj Doświadczyński, 1776), Krasicki brought the Candide-like picaresque novel to Poland; he also tried his hand at the serious epic with his Chocim War (Wojna chocimska, 1780).

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780810110397
ISBN 10	0810110393
Title	The Adventures of Mr Nicholas Wisdom
Author	Krasicki
Series	European Classics Ser
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Northwestern University Press
Year published	1992-08-30
Number of pages	148
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.