Wzorce osobowe w listach dedykacyjnych Bartłomieja Paprockiego

Abstract

Bartolomey Paprocki lived and worked at the turn of 16th and 17th centuries. His literary output, both Polish and Czech, comprises very varied works in terms of literary genre. In the tradition of his time, the first pages of his works contain the family crests and coats of arms of his patrons, a poem dedicated to the ancestry, a dedication letter and sometimes a preface “to the reader”. Dedication letters are sources of biographical information about Paprocki and his circle of friends, they vividly express the author’s views and also provide a guided introduction to the book. Dedications also perform certain educational functions. The author provides a detailed description of personal traits of the addressees of the “dedications”, which come to form a specific ideal or role model: of a knight, ruler, Catholic nobleman, wife. By honoring his artistic patrons, Paprocki created ideals, persons worth emulating.