Włoski pierwowzór „Dworu cesarza tureckiego” Szymona Starowolskiego. Rozwiązanie zagadki

The author of the article identified the Italian original of Szymon Starowolski’s “Dwór cesarza tureckiego (The Court of the Turkish Emperor),” a formerly vastly popular piece of prose which mingles a topographic description and practical particulars (referring to e.g. trade) with a presentation of customs at the sultan’s court and with informations about Islam. The Polish writer translated the memories of a Levantine Jew known as Domenico Hierosolimitano (1552/55–1622) and published by Alfonso Chierici under the title “Vera relatione della gran città di Costantinopoli et in particolare del serraglio del Gran Turco” (Bracciano 1621, second ed. 1639). Most probably Starowolski used the second edition and adapted the original to compose his translation in various ways, namely made additions, specified the original wording, divided the original into smaller chapters, and changed the order of some text’s fragments.