Cudzoziemskie przypadki pewnej „bagatelki”. O polskich przekładach „Le Temple de Gnide” Monteskiusza w XVIII wieku
The (Mis)Fortunes of a Certain “Trifle” in a Foreign Land. On the Polish Translations of Montesquieu’s “Le Temple de Gnide” (“The Temple of Gnidos”) in the 18th Century

Summary/Abstract: This article traces the (mis)fortunes of the Polish translations of Montesquieu’s “Le Temple de Gnide” (“The Temple of Gnidos”), analysed as a translational series in a comparative framework. This prose poem, now somewhat forgotten, in the 18th century was considerably popular with readers, publishers and translators. Its various editions and translations published throughout Europe outnumbered those of any other work by Montesquieu. A bibliographical analysis of this poem’s translations published in various languages and often forming translational series demonstrates how these (re)translations fitted into the broader literary dynamics of the 18th and early 19th centuries. Back then, both original texts and their translations were seen as a “shared property” of the translators, publishers, and writers who made various “improvements” to cater for aesthetic tastes and ensure financial gains. This was also true of the two 18th-century Polish translations of the poem. Comparing them with the source text sheds some light on their publishers and the textual basis.

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