THE ADVENTURES OF MR. NICHOLAS WISDOM (Mikolaja Doswiadczynskiego przypadki)

"The Adventure of Mr. Nicholas Wisdom" is the first English translation of the first Polish novel ever written. Completed in 1776 at the apex of the Polish Age of Enlightemnent, this immensely readable work combines Swiftian political and social satire of European behavior and institutions with Rousseau's ideal of inherent human equality and the notion that civilization is irrevocably corrupting. Ignacy Krasicki's picaresque tale traces the coming of age of the naive provincial Nicholas Wisdom. Nicholas seeks advice on infiltrating sophisticated Warsaw, conquers and flees that society, and enjoys numerous adventures in Europe, South America, and on the high seas which lead him to decide to pursue an "enlightened" existence. Resonant with echoes of Voltaire, Rousseau, and Fielding "The Adventures of Mr. Nicholas Wisdom" provides both a sly and eloquent portrait of Enlightenment-era provincial Polish society and a fascinating perspective on broader problems of eighteenth-century European culture."