On Two New Translations of Marcin Broniewski’s Tartariae Descriptio (1595)
On Two New Translations of Marcin Broniewski’s Tartariae Descriptio (1595)

Summary/Abstract: Marcin Broniewski’s (Latin: Martinus Broniovius; Russian: Martin Bronevskij / Мартин Бро- невский) Tartariae Descriptio, a travel account composed as a result of his visits to the Crimea as an ambassador to the Tatar Khans in 1575 (?) and 1578–1579, is a classical source for any study of the mediaeval and early modern Crimea. The original Latin text of Tartariae Descriptio was first published in Cologne in 1595; its abridged version was printed by Elzevir in 1630 together with a few other important sources on early modern Russia and the Crimean Khanate (Broniewski / Broniovius 1595; 1630). The appearance of this highly important source did not pass unnoticed by European public. Its first translation was published by the famous Samuel Purchas as early as 1625; this translation was several times reprinted later (Broniewski / Broniovius 1625; 1906). Considerably abridged extract from Broniewski’s work was published in Poland about the same time, in 1624; it was also reprinted in the 19th century (Broniewski / Broniovius 1624; 1854). Both editions (especially the Polish one) looked rather as retelling the proper translations and were done in archaic 17th-century English and Polish. For this reason they can hardly be used by modern scholars. The European audience practically forgot about Tartariae Descriptio until 1867 when the Russian translation by I. Šeršenevič with commentaries by N. Murzakevič made Broniewski’s work known to the wide Russian-speaking audience interested in Crimean studies. Although it was done in accordance with academic standards of the time, it certainly lacked the professional approach of modern academic translations. This is why recently, with the growth of interest in the history of the Crimea and its peoples, two new academic translations into European languages (German and Polish) appeared simultaneously.

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