Pamiętnik Biblioteki Kórnickiej

The paper comprises two parts: the first one discusses the history of versus quadratus from antiquity until the times of Walahfrid Strabon, and presents the origin and the history of the trochaic decapentasyllable until our own times, while the second part focuses on the structure and artistry of a famous trochaic decapentasyllable – Angilbertus’s Poem on the Battle of Fontenoy.

Versus quadratus is a form of verse which has been practiced in an unbroken form from the 5th–3rd centuries BC until today in the form of a rhythmic poem, a trochaic decapentasyllable. The transformation of the prosodic form of the poem into the rhythmic form took place in the 5th century AD. Initially, the two forms developed in a parallel way, one along with the other, but finally only the trochaic decapentasyllable survived.

A characteristic feature of versus quadratus was the isocolon, i.e. the same or a similar number of syllables in the particular elements, and in particular in the first hemistich. Versus quadratus differed from the “ordinary” trochaic septenarius by a great number of sound-based rhetorical figures, especially anaphoras, alliterations, homeoteleutons, and assonances.

The trochaic decapentasyllable of Latin poems faithfully maintained the main features of the ancient versus quadratus. From the point of view of the rigours and the distribution of rhythms (i.e. accents), we may observe two branches of its development in the Middle Ages: the first one was considerably free in terms of the division into elements (St. Secundinus), and sometimes even the number of syllables (the so-called Verona School), and the second one, rigorist, was very faithful to the vernacular versus quadratus (De die iudicii, Gallus Anonymus, and Hilary of Orléans). The first branch was marked by a diverse rhythm system, while the second by its considerable homogeneousness with a marked domination of pure trochaic metres.

It was as early as in the 13th century at the latest that the trochaic decapentasyllable was first used in vernacular poetry. It played an extremely important role in German, English, Italian, and Polish poetry. In the latter, it was probably inspired by Friedrich Schiller’s famous poem An die Freude. The German and Polish trochaic decapentasyllable continued its medieval models and only to a small extent moved away from the requirements of versus quadratus, leaving the regular division into two hemistiches with the help of the main caesura and dipodia (secondary caesurae), and isocolon. Just like in antiquity and in the Middle Ages, verses were filled with anaphoras, alliterations, and homeoteleutons. The forms of the last ones included rhymes. All the verses rhymed with a single syllable at the end of the second hemistich, and sometimes additionally on the main caesura. Sound-based rhetorical figures and rhymes were more popular in German poetry than in the Polish poetry. It was already in the Middle Ages that poetic experiments on the trochaic decapentasyllable were initiated, consisting in the doubling of some hemistiches (e.g. Stabat Mater dolorosa) or the removal of single elements of the verse (trochaic hendecasyllable).

Poem on the Battle of Fontenoy should be located somewhere in-between the two aforementioned branches of the development of the trochaic decapentasyllable: the free one and the rigorist one. An analysis showed that it has a highly innovative and diversified rhythmic structure. In this respect, it surpasses all trochaic decapentasyllables. Despite this diversification, Angilbertus observed the most important rigours of the trochaic decapentasyllable. In the poem under analysis, two verses of Lombardian rhythmic hexameter, including an imitation of the hephthemimeres caesura combined with the trithemimeres caesura, were discovered. Such verses can also be found in the famous epitaphs of the Kings of the Lombards dating to the first half of the 7th century. Some eminent philologists: Wilhelm Meyer and Dag Norberg, encountered serious difficulties with these forms.

Angilbertus filled his poem with the language of the Bible; however, he once quoted it via the famous poet Paulinus of Aquileia. Similarly to Paulinus, Angilbertus used school Latin. Neither Paulinus nor Angilbertus can be recognised as poets referring to the experiments of the Verona School. Peter Godman’s opinion on Paulinus in this scope is unjustified. Paulinus and Angilbertus share the mastery of meter and a great respect for language, but also the lyrics of the Vulgate. Paul von Winterfeld noted that when writing his planctus, Angilbertus consciously used certain figures of speech referring to vernacular poetry to underline the expression of the poem. Nevertheless, his was not folk (Mimen) or vernacular poetry – it only referred to its achievements.

The multi-dimensional cooperation between Count Władysław Zamoyski and St. Albert Chmielowski is an important fragment of Zakopane’s tradition. Their activity marked the period of the development of the town, which was on its way to becoming not only a famous spa, but also a centre of the Polish spiritual and political life. Owing to Zamoyski’s assistance, St. Albert erected a hermitage at the foot of the Tatra Mountains, which hosted some eminent artists from the Young Poland period. In line with the vision of Zakopane consistently implemented by Zamoyski, the sanctuary of prayer and contemplation was an indispensable element. There are testimonies according to which Count Zamoyski felt a monastic vocation and discussed the issue with the founder of the Albertine Brothers. St. Albert’s refusal to allow him to go resulted from his belief that Zamoyski’s economic activity was particularly beneficial from the social point of view, promoting not only civilizational but also spiritual progress. The cooperation of the two outstanding figures is without any doubt one of the most significant threads of Polish culture at the turn of the 20th century.

The collections of the Kórnik Library include a copy of a printed Mszał gnieźnieński [Gniezno Missal] of 1555, protected by a binding with characteristic architectural decoration. Detailed analysis shows that the binding was made between 1558 and 1566 in a workshop of an anonymous bookbinder from Poznań, thus confirming the presence of the Italian thread in the Poznań bookbinding ornamentation of the Renaissance period. At the same time, it is the latest known example of Polish renaissance architectural binding. It also provides evidence that although this characteristic composition formula appeared in the repertoire of the Poznań bookbinders about twenty years later than in Kraków, it lasted longer.

Worthy of attention is also the volume’s provenance related to Stanisław Warszewicki – his being “the most influential figure of the [Jesuit] Order after Skarga” in Poland. He is commemorated by a supralibros with Kuszaba coat-of-arms and the sigles “S V C P” pressed into the centre of the bottom part of the binding.

The collections of the Kórnik Library include an aldermen’s register of Zbąszyń, which was kept between 1588 and 1914. For centuries, it was the most important book documenting the town’s life. The articles contains a detailed analysis of records entered in the volume. The text is accompanied by an annex containing the first list of the most important town officials – the mayors and wójtowie (Vögte).

The article presents a manner of the collection of sources for the history of towns whose records have been lost. However, Krajenka, a former town of nobility, has archival materials that were introduced to the property records mainly kept in the Kórnik Library and the State Archives in Poznan. The surviving lists of tax dues (hearth tax, poll tax) also facilitate the description of Krajenka’s past.

The article indexes and describes Ksawery Działyński’s (1756–1819) book collection. Ksawery developed his library on the basis of the collection he inherited from his predecessors, subsequently buying further items. The collection comprised a total of about 650 works. The turn of the 19th century was the time when the so-called “national book collections” were developed in the Polish lands with a view to the rescuing of Polish library resources. However, an analysis of Ksawery’s stock provides evidence that, being a politically engaged patriot, he collected his books in the spirit of the Enlightenment. Most of the books in the collection are French volumes (77%) and they mainly represent literature, history and history of art, and to a smaller extent science, medicine, and agriculture. The books were to help their owner conduct his political activity and manage his estate, and to provide entertainment. The collection was primarily developed for Ksawery’s own purposes.

Włodzimierz Dworzaczek’s published manuscript entitled “The Raszewski Family Bearing the Grzymała Coat of Arms” is a special work by an eminent genealogist written before WWII, when its author made his living doing research at the request of private individuals. Only his two works of this kind survived until our own times, and both are a part of the collections of the Kórnik Library. Dworzaczek wrote the Raszewski family’s genealogy for General Kazimierz Raszewski from Poznan in 1936, leading the direct line from the end of the 15th century to the general himself (end of the 19th century). Although the manuscript is incomplete (several last pages are missing), its publication is an important and much-needed supplementation to the genealogy of Polish noble families, due to the scant number of publications concerning the Raszewski family.