This book is available in Open Access thanks to the generous support of the Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań



This is the first monographic study of the reception of Herman Hugo's emblematic book "Pia desideria" (1624) in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. It discusses ten different translations and adaptations, showing how the engravings, elegies and exegetical extracts of the original volume were used by Polish-speaking authors (a little space is also devoted to the painting reception of the engravings). The author examines too the reasons for the phenomenon of the volume's popularity, proving that it was determined by the interest of women who did not know Latin, who constituted the most important target group for these numerous and varied Polish adaptations.