Pierre Corneille, *Le Cid*. Translated by Stanisław Wyspiański [1907]

Title: *Le Cid* by P. Corneille. A tragedy in five acts.

Author: Pierre Corneille (1606–1684) [French playwright, one of the founders of French classical theater].

Translation: Stanisław Wyspiański (1869–1907) [playwright, poet, and painter; a leading figure of the Young Poland movement].

Publisher: Kraków, published by the translator; printed at the W. L. Anczyc Printing House; typeset at Gebethner’s Bookstore.

Year of publication: 1907.

Format: 22 cm.

Number of pages: 86, [2].

Binding: Paperback cover.

The first edition of Stanisław Wyspiański’s translation of Pierre Corneille’s *Le Cid*, published at his own expense during the poet’s final year of life. Printing was completed on March 4, 1907, at the renowned Anczyc printing house in Kraków, less than nine months before the translator’s death. Wyspiański personally oversaw the book’s graphic design. On the title page, he placed a vignette featuring a liverwort flower, signed with the monogram “SW,” and adorned the beginnings of each act with vignettes featuring botanical motifs. His translation is considered free, bordering on paraphrase, and bears the distinct mark of the language and temperament of the author of *The Wedding*. The original, staged in Paris in 1637, draws on the story of Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, an 11th-century Castilian knight whose battles against the Moors earned him the nickname “El Cid,” derived from the Arabic “sayyid,” meaning “lord.” The play was a huge success, but its deviations from the classical rule of the three unities sparked the famous “Cid” controversy and a war of pamphlets. It was only settled by the French Academy, established shortly before by Cardinal Richelieu.

Stanisław Wyspiański was born on January 15, 1869, in Kraków. From 1887 to 1890, he studied at the Kraków School of Fine Arts and, concurrently, at Jagiellonian University; beginning in 1891, he pursued his studies in Paris. He was a playwright, poet, painter, graphic artist, and designer all in one. As a young artist, he worked on the polychrome decoration of St. Mary’s Basilica, and later designed the polychrome decoration and stained-glass windows of the Franciscan Church in Kraków. He is the author of, among others, *The Wedding*, *Liberation*, “November Night,” and “Acropolis.” He revolutionized the Polish theater scene by treating a performance as a unified visual and literary whole. He died on November 28, 1907, in Kraków.

Provenance: no ownership records or seals.

This is the first edition of a translation from the last year of Wyspiański’s life, featuring his own vignettes, in exceptionally fine condition. A must-have for collectors of first editions by Wyspiański and the Young Poland movement, scholars of drama and translation, and enthusiasts of turn-of-the-century book art.

Each piece is clean, with a solid and cohesive block; the paper is free of stains and yellowing. The original paper cover is preserved in perfect condition, without tears or losses—a rare state of preservation for such a delicate, flimsy brochure.

Catalog ID: 295-22-A-X