From the log of Antoni Waga.. Karlovy Wary and Prague – 1886

The authors present an edited fragment of a log written by Antoni Waga (1799-1890) during his journey from Paris to Warsaw in 1868. The excerpt is an account of the scholar’s stay in Prague and Karlovy Vary. Discussing nature, history, literature and the arts, the log stands out as an invaluable source to the knowledge of the nineteenth century.

TODAY’S POLISH JOURNEYS TO ITALY - BETWEEN A PILGRIMAGE AND DECONSTRUCTION OF A MYTH

The article takes as its starting point Pavel Muratov’s book Images of Italy, considered a fundamental text for Polish accounts of travels to Italy in the 20th century. For the generation of Iwaszkiewicz and Herbert, a journey to Italy meant a true pilgrimage to “sacred places of culture”, accompanied by a strong sense of cultural inferiority. The next generation of Wojciech Karpiński and Ewa Bieńkowska treats the experience of a journey as a return to a common home, to the Italian that is European tradition marked with the great names of its predecessors. The youngest authors, Marek Zagańczyk and Adam Szczuciński, continue this tradition that may be called aesthetical, which is on the other hand contested by Dariusz Czaja, exploring another Italy little known to travellers - Calabria and, Basilicata - and opposing the model of a journey viewed as a continuous reference to others’ texts.

Queen Maria Casimira d’Arquien Sobieska had much contact with Venice. During Jan Sobieski III’s lifetime, the queen kept in touch with Venetian diplomats (such as Angelo Morosini and Girolamo Alberti), imported luxury goods, imported luxury goods from Venice, and was interested in the local culture. The queen’s departure from the countryside for the Eternal City in October 1698 determined that, at the very beginning—after crossing the Empire’s border with Italy—she would meet the main cities of Veneto, Verona, Padua, and Venice. She returned to the Venetian Republic in 1705, when the queen, with papal permission, went to meet her daughter Teresa Kunegunda, Electress of Bavaria. In this article, several aspects of the queen’s journeys are included, apart from the political matters already indicated. Firstly, the article details the ceremony of reception of the queen-widow by the authorities of the Serenissima, representatives of the Venetian elite, and envoys of foreign countries residing in Venice. Next, the article draws attention to the places that the queen visited and the piety she manifested, and it presents observations related to city life formulated directly by Queen Maria Casimira Sobieska and her courtiers, also in relation to the cities of Verona and Padua. Finally, the author of the article points out the queen’s interest in the dramatic and musical repertoire presented on Venetian stages and in the whole of cultural life, including the carnival. To conclude, the author draws attention to the differences in the treatment of the royal status of the queen, depending on the political changes taking place in Europe and the reception of cultural and religious threads in the queen’s life.

Aḥmad al-Kardūdī and His Journey to Spain (1885). Political and Cultural Dimensions

The article is devoted to Aḥmad al-Kardūdī, a Moroccan official in the second half of the nineteenth century, and his state and diplomatic activities, with particular emphasis on the account he wrote for Sultan Al-Ḥasan I (ruled 1873–1894) from the 1885 expedition to Spain, which had been published for the first time in 1963 under the title At-Tuḥfa as-saniyya li-al-Ḥaḍra al- Ḥasaniyya bi-al-Mamlaka al-Iṣbanyūliyya [Shining Gift for His Majesty Al- Ḥasan about the Kingdom of Spain]. This report often is included into Arab travel literature. It is not only a report on the tasks that the ruler set before the diplomatic mission of which Al-Kardūdī was a member, but also an image of the social and political consciousness of Moroccan elites associated with power of the West in times of active attempt at reforms undertaken by the ruler. Unfortunately, these attempts had little effect. The delegation was received in audience by Regent Maria Krystyna, also visited the capital of Spain and the most important Andalusian cities, but the author himself, probably on the orders of the Sultan, was also very interested in the military achievements of the Spaniards. The Gift, written in rhyming and rhythmic prose, can be treated as a literary work (although the author probably did not intend to), and simultaneously an example of an original, official, court document in the shape of a diplomatic report addressed to the ruler.