''The Adventures of Mr. Nicholas Wisdom'' ( pl, Mikołaja Doświadczyńskiego przypadki; in English, more accurately, ''The Adventures of Nicholas Empiricus''), written in
Polish in
1776
Events January–February
* January 1 – American Revolutionary War – Burning of Norfolk: The town of Norfolk, Virginia is destroyed, by the combined actions of the British Royal Navy and occupying Patriot forces.
* Januar ...
by
Ignacy Krasicki
Ignacy Błażej Franciszek Krasicki (3 February 173514 March 1801), from 1766 Prince-Bishop of Warmia (in German, ''Ermland'') and from 1795 Archbishop of Gniezno (thus, Primate of Poland), was Poland's leading Enlightenment poet"Ignacy Krasic ...
, is the first
novel
A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itself ...
composed in the Polish language, and a milestone in
Polish literature
Polish literature is the literary tradition of Poland. Most Polish literature has been written in the Polish language, though other languages used in Poland over the centuries have also contributed to Polish literary traditions, including Lati ...
.
Plot
Krasicki's novel is the tale of Nicholas Experience (''Mikołaj Doświadczyński''), a
Polish nobleman. During sojourns in
Warsaw
Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officiall ...
,
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...
, and the fictional island of Nipu (a utopian society
[Bartoszyńska, Katarzyna.]
Persuasive ironies: utopian readings of Swift and Krasicki.
Comparative Literature Studies 50.4 (2013): 618-642.), the protagonist gathers numerous ''
experience
Experience refers to conscious events in general, more specifically to perceptions, or to the practical knowledge and familiarity that is produced by these conscious processes. Understood as a conscious event in the widest sense, experience involv ...
''s that lead him to a
rationalist outlook and teach him how to become a good man, and thus a good citizen. This rationalist outlook, often emphasized in Krasicki's writings, constitutes an
apologia for the
Enlightenment and
physiocratism.
''The Adventures of Nicholas Experience'' offers a portrayal both of the 18th-century
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi-confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Crown of the Kingdom of ...
and of the broader European culture of the time.
See also
* ''
Fables and Parables
''Fables and Parables'' (''Bajki i przypowieści'', 1779), by Ignacy Krasicki (1735–1801), is a work in a long international tradition of fable-writing that reaches back to antiquity. Krasicki's fables and parables have been described as bein ...
''
References
Further reading
* ''The Adventures of Mr. Nicholas Wisdom'', Northwestern University Press, 1992, 148 pp.,
External links
Polish ebookShort review of an English translation
1776 novels
Polish novels
Novels by Ignacy Krasicki
1770s fantasy novels
18th-century Polish novels
Works by Ignacy Krasicki
Utopian novels
{{Poland-hist-stub
Polish Enlightenment