This print has a unique history, in that it was found by Piekarski in an exploration of the bindings of another book.[1] The book itself was from 1540, which lead to the dating of the fragment as the same (Piekarski, 1930, p. 218). Hieronim Wietor was a printer from Silesia, originally with the surname Büttner, who studied in both Krakow and Vienna before settling in Krakow and founding his own publishing house. Interestingly, he worked with Jan z Koszyczek on the first book to be published entirely in Polish, The Conversations of Solomon and Marcolf (Murko, 1890, p. 71), which could suggest that the fragment is earlier or could potentially form part of the original translation. Unfortunately, only three leaves were found by Piekarski, with the first of these photocopied in his 1930 article and the rest transcribed with the assistance of Krzyżanowski’s edition (Piekarski, 1930, p. 218). The fragment was kept in the Jagiellonian University Library under the shelf mark Cim. 1304, where it at some point went missing, leaving us only with the photocopy. Unless another copy is found, it seems unlikely that any conclusive findings about the print will be reached. (text by Ava Byrne)
[1] Katarzyna Krzak-Weiss, ‘„Złotodajna” makulatura. Na marginesie badań nad polskimi wydaniami modlitewnika Hortulus animae’, Kwartalnik Historii Nauki i Techniki, 68.3 (2023), pp. 97-110 (p. 98).
|