Emilija Jovaišaitė-Martišauskienė

Sarbievius in England: in search of the reader

Emilija Jovaišaitė-Martišauskienė

University College London 

Sarbievius in England: in search of the reader

This paper aims to introduce and discuss the materiality of Matthias Casimirus Sarbievius's works that I encountered in the British libraries. Significant work has already been done on Sarbievius and his popularity in the British Isles; however, little attention has heretofore been paid to the reception of this author in terms of the history of the book. A closer analysis of some interesting material features provides insight and contributes to our understanding of Sarbievius's reader circle, namely, who his readers were, what they found significant, and what the purposes of reading Sarbievius's poetry were. Therefore, special focus will be paid to a copiously annotated copy of Lyricorum libri IV (printed in Antwerp, by Balthasar Moret in 1632, held at the British Library), which also contains a handwritten alphabetical index of Sarbievius's topoi. However, I would also like to address some interesting material features of the first English translation of the poet's work ("The Odes of Casimire", printed in London by T. W. for G. Hills, 1646) and illustrate how they adapt the 'Sarmatian' poet to the broader English historical context.