It is with great excitement that we announce the discovery of an
Italian copy of Dante Alighieri's Divina Commedia (Firenze:
Felice le Monnier, 1844) bearing Cyprian Norwid's ownership
inscription and his presentation inscription to a Polish emigre
in the United States. Cyprian Kamil Norwid (1821-1883) was a
Polish poet, dramatist, painter, and sculptor. He belonged to
the second generation of Polish Romantic poets. After the
rediscovery of his work by the Young Poland (Mloda Polska)
movement of the early twentieth century, he became known as the
“fourth bard” of Polish literature, to denote his status as an
equal to the traditional “three bards” or “trzej wieszcze” of
Polish literature: Adam Mickiewicz (1798-1855), Juliusz Slowacki
(1809-1849), and Zygmunt Krasinski (1812-1859). Another
indication of his great stature in Polish literature and culture
is the fact that on the 180th anniversary of Norwid’s birth,
Pope John Paul II delivered an address praising Norwid’s work to
the representatives of the Institu