W cieniu autorytetu
In the Shadow of Authority

Paweł Szczerbic on Himself

Summary/Abstract: Paweł Szczerbic (1552–1609), a lawyer, owner of a publishing house in Lwów, translator of works on law and politics ("Speculum Saxonum", "Ius municipal", "Politicorum sive civilis doctrinae libri sex" of Justus Lipsius) is still a little-known figure who was considered a highly recognized scholar of his epoch; Bartłomiej Paprocki (c. 1543–1612), for instance, regarded him as a man of virtue and wisdom, while Szczerbic himself discredited his own abilities. Nowadays, on the one hand, Szczerbic is considered one of the most outstanding translators of legal, philosophical, and political works of the Renaissance, who skillfully manages the language, but on the other hand, in terms of legal matters, remains overshadowed by Bartłomiej Groicki and his translations, whereas in terms of philosophical and political matters his works are compared to the unrivaled model of Lipsius. Who exactly was Paweł Szczerbic? This article aims to delineate the figure of Paweł Szczerbic and his workshop on the basis of his own comments included in dedications, forewords or title pages of published works; documents or linguistic analyses of any sort are not taken into consideration.

• Details
• Contents