Silva rerum

Silva rerum (from latin "silva rerum" — forest of things), polonized sylwa or and sometimes described as a home chronicle was a specific type of a book, a multi-generational chronicle, kept by many Polish noble families from the 16th through 18th centuries [J. Niedźwiedź, "Sylwa, silva rerum" in "Słownik sarmatyzmu" pod red. A. Borowskiego, Wydawnictwo Literackie, Kraków 2001] . Some authors of modern Polish postmodern literature try to create works similar to the silvae rerum of the past [Przemysław Czapliński, [http://www.dziennik.com/www/dziennik/kult/archiwum/07-12-01/pp-07-20-01.html Klucze do sylwy] , Przegląd Polski on-line, 07-12-01] .

In historical Poland it was written by members of the szlachta (Polish nobility) as a diary or memoir for the entire family; they were not intended for a wider audience of printing (although there were a few exceptions); some were also lent to friends of the family, who were allowed to add their comments to them [J. Niedźwiedź, "Sylwa, silva rerum" in "Słownik sarmatyzmu" pod red. A. Borowskiego, Wydawnictwo Literackie, Kraków 2001] . It was added to by many generations, and contained various information: diary-type entires on current events, memoirs, letters, political speeches, copies of legal documents, gossips, jokes and anecdotes, financial documents, economic information (price of grain, etc.), philosophical musings, poems, genealogical trees, advice (agricultural, medical, moral) for the descendants and others - the wealth of information in silva is staggering, they contain anything that their authors wished to record for future generations [J. Niedźwiedź, "Sylwa, silva rerum" in "Słownik sarmatyzmu" pod red. A. Borowskiego, Wydawnictwo Literackie, Kraków 2001] ). Some silvae rerum were of truly enormous proportions, with thousands of pages (Gloger cites one of 1764 pages) although most common size is from 500 to 800 pages [J. Niedźwiedź, "Sylwa, silva rerum" in "Słownik sarmatyzmu" pod red. A. Borowskiego, Wydawnictwo Literackie, Kraków 2001] . They were written from 16th century (the earliest entries are from the times of the king Stefan Batory) to the mid-18th century (times of the Saxon kings in Poland) [J. Niedźwiedź, "Sylwa, silva rerum" in "Słownik sarmatyzmu" pod red. A. Borowskiego, Wydawnictwo Literackie, Kraków 2001] .

Silvae rerum were the source of our modern knowledge of poems by such writers as Andrzej Morsztyn, and even long diaries, including the famous "Chocim War" by Wacław Potocki and the "Diaries" by Jan Chryzostom Pasek [Zygmunt Gloger, "Ksie̜ga rzeczy polskich", 1886, Nakł. Macierzy Polskiej, [http://books.google.com/books?id=87oDAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA407&vq=silva+rerum&dq=%22silva+rerum%22+Poland&lr=&as_brr=3&source=gbs_search_s Google Print, p. 407-410] (public domain)] . They also contain a wealth of information about the customs of Polish nobility of the past centuries [Zygmunt Gloger, "Ksie̜ga rzeczy polskich", 1886, Nakł. Macierzy Polskiej, [http://books.google.com/books?id=87oDAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA407&vq=silva+rerum&dq=%22silva+rerum%22+Poland&lr=&as_brr=3&source=gbs_search_s Google Print, p. 407-410] (public domain)] [Joanna Partyka, "Szlachecka silva rerum jako zrodlo do badan etnograficznych" (The nobility's "silva rerum" as a source for ethnographic research), Etnografia Polska (32) 1988] . A major collection of silvas perished during the destruction of Polish libraries by Germans in World War II [J. Niedźwiedź, "Sylwa, silva rerum" in "Słownik sarmatyzmu" pod red. A. Borowskiego, Wydawnictwo Literackie, Kraków 2001] .

In modern Poland, a type of postmodern literature tries to recreate the feeling of sylwa in their works [Przemysław Czapliński, [http://www.dziennik.com/www/dziennik/kult/archiwum/07-12-01/pp-07-20-01.html Klucze do sylwy] , Przegląd Polski on-line, 07-12-01] .

References

External links

*Stanisław Burkot, [http://www.wsp.krakow.pl/konspekt/konspekt6/czytam.html review of silva rerum by Kajetan Kraszewski]

Further reading

*Janusz Tazbir, "Silva Rerum Historicarum", Warszawa: Iskry, 2002
*works by Aleksander Brückner, a scholar of Polish literature