In 1517 the Cracovian scholar Maciej z Miechowa published Tractatus de duabus Sarmatiis, the first work in Renaissance geography which offered detailed information about Sarmatia, the region between the Vistula and the Caspian Sea. Published in several Latin editions, the treatise initiated the humanists’ scientific exchange of geographical knowledge about Eastern Europe. Moreover, translations in German, Polish, Dutch and Italian appeared, also addressing a non-scholarly readership. Although the literature on Maciej z Miechowa notes that the Tractatus has been broadly disseminated, its translations have been understudied. This is the purpose of the present chapter, which also highlights how the various translations of the Tractatus have led to significant modifications regarding the source text and its paratexts.

No abstract

Summary Among the various descriptions of „Sarmatia“ which have been printed in the 16th century, the works of Maciej z Miechowa, Marcin Kromer and Alessandro Guagnini possessed the largest distribution: Published between 1517 and 1578, their works – containing information about the geography, history and population of the eastern part of the European continent – were reprinted and translated several times at several places until the middle of the 17th century. With a focus on paratexts and metatextual comments, the present article considers the entangled history of their editions in the 16th and 17th century and deduces receptions of these texts.

No abstract

No abstract