Waclaw Sieroszewski

The manuscript of the text entitled Alexandria (notes from the journey), published in this book, is stored in the National Library in Warsaw, no. Rps 522111. Brief, yet rich in information and not devoid of humorous motifs account of Waclaw Sieroszewski's stay in Alexandria was most probably written after the Author had returned to Warsaw. This is not implied by corrections in the text, which are not very numerous, but above all by a high number of encyclopaedic data: exact dates of reigns of Byzantine emperors, the number of scrolls in the Library of Alexandria, definitions of philosophical and theological terms, as well as dates of important events. Their presence indicates that the Author probably used some other publications as support to write down his memories. Nevertheless, taking into consideration the fact that the story is full of details concerning the topography of Alexandria, which would be easy to forget after some time, the Author must have sat down to his desk and recorded his experiences soon after the events. The following edition is bilingual (Polish and English). It has been supplemented with comments and illustrated with old postcards, which will show the Reader Alexandria as it was at the time Waclaw Sieroszewski's visit. The original spelling in Polish was preserved even though it is sometimes incorrect according to the rules existing today. As a result, the Reader does not only see Alexandria through Sieroszewski's eyes but also has an impression that the Author himself tells the story of his adventure.