The first, very rare edition of Lord Byron's poems translated by the great Polish poet and writer Adam Mickiewicz. The volume appeared in a collection of Mickiewicz's works printed between 1828 and 1836, consisting of 8 volumes, but constituting, like each volume of this edition, a work in itself. The edition of the work has an interesting history, which also explains its rarity. We are in 1833, and Mickiewicz is in Paris. It's a period of hectic work, during which the author is writing Pan Tadeusz and working intensively on sorting out a translation of Lord Byron's poems. In January 1833, Mickiewicz wrote to Odysseus that he was rewriting and correcting "Giaour" and for this reason halted work on "Poema Szlacheckij" (Pan Tadeusz). In April, he states that the work is ready for publication. For the first time, Mickiewicz cedes the copyright of his work completely to the publisher, perhaps keeping in mind that it was a translation. Since "Giaour" is too short a work, publisher Jelowicki plans to add to the translation of "Giaour" a translation of Odinsky's "Corsair" by Byron. Mickiewicz negotiates directly with the publisher, trying to get the most favorable contract for his friend Odyniec, who in the meantime works very slowly. In August 1834, Odyniec sent the manuscripts of "The Corsair" to Mickiewicz, who made corrections in them. In September, he delivers both works to the publisher. It seems that in November 1834 the work was printed. The work appears as the seventh volume of the first edition of Mickiewicz's works, which includes many of Mickiewicz's first editions, including Giaour and Pan Tadeusz. The work is published with the poet's dedication to Niemcewicz. The famous Polish newspaper in Paris "Le Polonaise" warns against the publication of the volume, but it cannot be found in Paris. In fact, following Syga, Mickiewicz asked Jelowiecki to keep all the volumes hidden, because after 1830. Censorship of Russian and Austrian volumes was very strict, as Paris was considered a hotbed of European revolutionary ideas and the work of one of the most famous Polish poets printed in Paris would have been easily intercepted and blocked by the police. It is not known who among the authors or publishers came up with the idea. They removed the title pages from most of the printed books, adding a new title page declaring that the work was printed in Breslau (Wroclaw) at "U Webera i Spolki" in 1829, Also adding false wording approving the censorship. In addition, they removed the last page, which included the name of the Paris printer in addition to the index. So it was no longer the revolutionary Paris that published the volume, but the "God-fearing" Breslau, and not the dangerous 1835, but the quiet 1829, the year before the revolutionary uprisings of 1830. The system worked and the volumes entered Polish territory. occupied by the Russians, Prussians and Austrians without being intercepted by the censors. Only at this point did the publisher and Mickiewicz decide to distribute the remaining pieces in the original version.
The lower volume has the original title page from Paris.
