STAROWOLSKI SZYMON Reformacya obyczajów polskich (1859)

REFORMACY OF POLISH CITIZENSHIP TO ALL STATES OF OUR COUNTRY, of the present corrupted times, I beg of you this sincerity: white is black, good is evil, might is right, will is right, obstinacy is obstinacy, harm is indulgence ,shame is sanctity, lowliness is praise, gluttony is politeness, in a word: Quorum deus venter est .Cracow 1859, pp. 184, LAMENT OF THE TROUBLED MOTHER OF THE POLISH CORONA, already moribund, on the sons of the unborn, evil, and careless on the parent svowo. Cracow 1859, p. 22, KAZANIE O POBOŻNOŚCI ŻYWOTA AND ŚDEMCI Fr. JAKUB ZADZIK (...). Cracow 1859, p. 22. by Rev. SZYMON STAROWOLSKI , Canon of the Cracow Cathedral. Edited by KAZIMIERZ JÓZEF TUROWSKI,CO-EDITED,published by the Polish Library Publishing House, form. 12.5 x 19. Vintage hardcover, foxing on most pages, all 3 title pages have a 1 cm cut edge at bottom. Stamp: from the Potocki book collection.

Starowolski's work, known under an abbreviated version of the title as "Reformacya obyczajów polskich", was first published in Cracow around 1650. Among the works he had already written, its author also had those devoted to current affairs of state. In them he postulated the moral rebirth of the people of the Republic, pointed out the existing social inequalities, the degeneration of noble democracy and the difficult situation of peasants and the bourgeoisie. He took up these issues anew in one of his most famous works. In it he proposed a repair of the socio-political system, which was "much needed by all the states of our homeland, the present corrupted times". In "Reformacyi obyczajów polskich" the conviction about the degeneration of the modern generation and the largely idealistic perception of the life of past generations, whose customs (mores maiorum) should be a model for posterity, became apparent. The author of the work appeared here as a man making social diagnoses, an observer predicting the future course of events, and finally as a teacher pointing out the necessity of correcting existing mistakes and indicating appropriate solutions.