DEFOE D. - The Dyet of Poland. At Dantzick 1705. in a luxury binding.

[DEFOE Daniel] - The Dyet of Poland, a Satyr. At Dantzick [London] 1705. 4, p. [4], 60. binding late luxury gilt leather.
E. 16, 244 (and E. 24, 436). Slight rubbing of spine edges, slight yellowing of paper in places, otherwise very good condition. Copperplate heraldic ex-libris of William Henry Smith, Viscount Hambleden. Binding: red leather, 6-panel spine, gilt, with scrolls, gilt bordure on both covers with small rosettes at corners, doublet gilt, trim also. Estreicher notes only one known copy. Brochure by a Lithuanian citizen Anglipoloski (so signed after the preface), dedicated to Poland, published in Danzig. In fact, it had nothing to do with Danzig, had no direct connection with Polish affairs, and came out from the pen of by no means a Lithuanian, but an Englishman, Daniel Defoe. Defoe is now known as the author of "The Cases of Robinson Crusoe," but during his lifetime he was appreciated mainly for his pamphlets commenting on current political and social events; he also occasionally mentioned Polish affairs in them. In the work presented here, he harshly criticized English bills "designed to prevent the opportunistic observance of the rituals of the Anglican Church by persons who, being of a different religion, could thus hold office." Because of the radical nature of the judgments contained in the pamphlet, Defoe employed a kind of camouflage and transferred the considerations to Poland. "Under the names such as 'Poland,' 'Cossacks,' 'Sobieski,' and 'Augustus,' were easily recognizable: England, dissidents, William III, Queen Anne. The masterstroke was to hide other figures from England's political life under Polish names. Thus 'Ruski' was Edward Russell, 'Taguski' was Charles Monatgu, 'Lawrensky' was Laurence Hyde, 'Finski' was Daniel Finch, 'Cavensky' was William Cavendish, 'Bucksky' was John Sheffield, Duke of Buckingham, and so on. Although the poem was about the domestic situation in England, not the Polish-Lithuanian state, it did point out - in addition to the fact that its author was aware that many Polish surnames have the ending -ski - one important thing. At the beginning of the 18th century. Rzeczpospolita existed in the consciousness of at least some representatives of the intellectual elite of the West as a state with a mixed system, in which power was exercised jointly by the king and the parliament" (P. Hanczewski "Robinson Crusoe a 'Polish affair'" on wilanow-palac.pl). Very rare.