Józef Maksymilian Ossoliński – Pierre Bayle. Relacje, zależności, miejsca wspólne

Abstract

This article aims to analyze the scientific activity of Józef Maksymilian Ossoliński (1754–1826) concerning his research on the literature and culture of the Polish Renaissance through the prism of the achievements of Pierre Bayle (1647–1706), one of the most important representatives of modern scientific, philosophical, and encyclopedic thought. The study is based on Ossoliński’s Wiadomości historyczno-krytyczne do dziejów literatury polskiej (Historical and Critical Notes on the History of Polish Literature) and Bayle’s Dictionnaire Historique et Critique (Historical and Critical Dictionary) – works that mark many years oftheir scholarly activity. The comparative method adopted in this paper makes it possible toindicate the shared features of their endeavours: the principles of editing sources (textualcriticism), the form of presenting research results, or the title of the publication. The articleconcludes that Ossoliński clearly modelled his Wiadomości historyczno-krytyczne on Bayle’swork and sheds new light on the reception of Bayle in Poland. It also reinforces the positionOssoliński’s work holds in the Polish textual criticism canon.