LIETUVIŲ KALBOTYROS KLAUSIMAI, III LIETUVOS TSR MOKSLŲ AKADEMIJA

FROM THE HISTORY OF K. ŠIRVYDAS’S „DICTIONARIUM TRIUM LINGUARUM“ DICTIONARY

K. PAKALKA

K. Širvydas is a pioneer of Lithuanian lexicography. Before the appearance of Širvydas’s „Dictionarium trium linguarum“, the modest beginnings of Lithuanian lexicography can be discerned in Lithuanian glosses¹ found in non-Lithuanian and the earliest Lithuanian writings. A few Lithuanian glosses² are found in the chronicles of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, in estate inventory books written in Russian, and in writings in Latin and, especially, Polish. These include names of household objects, personal names, various phrases and word combinations, mythological names, and so on. A dozen or so mythological names with explanations are found in M. Strijkovski’s „Chronicle of Poland, Lithuania, Samogitia...“, published in 1582. Lithuanian words and expressions preserved in non-Lithuanian writings, even in distorted form, are also important to the science of language.

We find many lexical glosses of diverse kinds in J. Bretkūnas’s (1579—1590) translation of the Bible. In striving to translate the original very carefully and accurately, the author introduced glosses that considerably enriched the translation’s vocabulary. Some glosses were also entered into the translation manuscript by priests who checked the translator’s work.

The glosses in J. Bretkūnas’s manuscript are diverse in character: some are found in the margins, others in the text itself; in some places synonyms are given, while elsewhere loanwords are explained using Lithuanian words, and vice versa. In still other places, an individual word is explained by a Lithuanian, and sometimes also a German, phrase, and conversely—one Lithuanian construction is explained by another.

Similar glosses also occur in M. Daukša’s short 1595 catechism, translated from Polish. The margins of this catechism contain about 190 lexical glosses³.

The glosses of J. Bretkūnas and M. Daukša are elements of a translation and explanatory dictionary.

A prominent representative of Lithuanian writing in the early seventeenth century, K. Širvydas, a good scholar of the Lithuanian language, compiled a specialized lexicographical work in which words were arranged alphabetically and provided with explanations. His „Dictionarium trium linguarum“ appeared

¹ By gloss we mean an explanation, supplied by an author or editor, of an obscure word or phrase in the margins or between the lines of a text (usually an ancient one).

² Some excerpts containing such glosses were presented by K. Jablonskis in the book „Lithuanian Words in the Language of the Scribes of Old Lithuania“, Kaunas, 1941.

³ For more on the glosses in Daukša’s catechism, see J. Kruopas’s article „Lexical Parallelisms in the Language of Daukša’s Catechism (1595)“, published in this volume.

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In 1629, 82 years after the first Lithuanian book in East Prussia and 34 years after Daukša’s catechism—the first Lithuanian printed work published in Lithuania—K. Širvydas’s dictionary became the first printed work of Lithuanian lexicography. It was not until 101 years later that F. W. Haack appeared in East Prussia, publishing a much smaller German–Lithuanian and Lithuanian–German dictionary for religious purposes.

Širvydo žodyno ir „Punktų sakymų“ (1629, 1644) pasirodymas betarpiškai susijęs su Vilniaus jėzuitų akademijos, įsteigtos 1579 m., veikla. Tuo metu vykdoma katalikybės propaganda, nukreipta prieš reformaciją, buvo pagrindinis veiksnys, skatinęs leisti lietuviškas knygas.

At the Vilnius Academy, certain rights were recognized for the Lithuanian language, which had been disparaged in public life, and efforts began to support it. “It was decreed at the Academy that students who knew Lithuanian should practice delivering sermons in Lithuanian”⁴.

Apparently, there were quite a few Lithuanians at the Academy, since a chair of Lithuanian was established there in 1620, headed, presumably, by Širvydas⁵.

While teaching theology and Lithuanian at the Vilnius Jesuit Academy and preaching in Lithuanian in Vilnius churches for a long time, Širvydas understood the need to publish works in Lithuanian (including a Lithuanian dictionary) that the Academy’s students and other clergy, who did not know Lithuanian well enough, could use in propagating religion. He knew that religious works had to be written in expressive and vivid native language. This is evident in part from the six-line Latin poem on the reverse of the title page of his “Punktai sakymų,” which begins with the words:

“Go, book, and draw forth the sting of the holy word; pierce the hearts of the people in the Lithuanian and Polish lands…”

Širvydas was also encouraged to publish Lithuanian books by the example of his contemporary M. Daukša, who had published a Catechism and a Postil in Vilnius. Without doubt, Širvydas knew Daukša’s works and the famous words in the preface to his Postil: “Although, to tell the truth, few among us, especially those of higher rank, do not know Polish and are unable to read sermons written in Polish, nevertheless, in my opinion, most people do not understand Polish or know very little of it. I know how all nations esteem, love, and cherish works written in their native language (and this, I think, is why all nations have set about translating books from other languages into their own), …”⁶

These words of M. Daukša, urging people to respect their native language and works written in it, and encouraging them to translate books from other languages, also resonated in Širvydas’s work. In the Polish preface to “Punktai sakymų,” he reasoned in much the same way in addressing the reader: “And although there are already many books in Latin and other languages, there are exceedingly few Lithuanian books, so necessary for the salvation of people’s souls”⁷.

The words quoted above, as well as those in the preface “Ad Studiosam Iuventutem” to “Dictionarium trium linguarum,” which express the idea that with a dictionary… serving as a guide, one can chart for oneself an even path to the greatest heights of poetry and eloquence, of the holy-

⁴ Lietuvos TSR istorija, 1, 298, Vilnius, 1957.

⁵ J. Lebedys, K. Širvydas. — Literatūra ir menas, Nr. 35, 1956.

⁶ Lietuvių literatūros istorijos chrestomatija, 65, Vilnius, 1957.

⁷ K. Szyrwyd, Przedmowa do czytelnika, — Kn., Punkty Kazań, Wilno, MDC XXIX.

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the treasures of the Latin language concealed in them⁸, shows that Širvydas understood well the great need for Lithuanian books, and especially for a dictionary.

The existing Polish–Latin and Latin–Polish dictionaries could not meet the needs of the students of Vilnius Academy. For the use of the Academy’s students, K. Širvydas published his famous “Dictionarium trium linguarum” in 1629, thereby clearing the way for Lithuanian lexicography as early as the beginning of the 17th century.

Širvydas’s dictionary went through several editions. On the basis of surviving copies of the dictionary, their title pages and prefaces, and bibliographers’ accounts, it has been established that “Dictionarium trium linguarum”⁹ had five editions: I — 1629, II — 1631, III — 1642, IV — 1677, V — 1713. Copies of every edition except the second have survived to this day.

The first bibliographer of Širvydas, the Jesuit historian A. Alegambė (17th century), in his work “Bibliotheca Scriptorum Societatis Iesu” (1642), and another, later Jesuit historian, St. Rostovskis (18th century), in his work “Lituanicarum Societatis Iesu Historiarum” (1768), merely mentioned Širvydas’s dictionary, but provided no detailed information about its editions or the years in which they appeared. It is therefore difficult to determine from their accounts which editions of SzDi they knew (Alegambė may have known only the first three editions, while Rostovskis may have known all of them).

For a long time, the surviving copy of the first edition—which appeared while the author was still alive—was unknown. The Polish bibliographer F. M. Sobieščianskis wrote: “Of all those editions, the first and second have vanished without a trace—and are not found in any libraries known to date. It is likely that even the year of printing of the first edition is unknown”¹⁰. Another Polish bibliographer, M. Stankievičius, also knew nothing of the first edition: “We know nothing at all of the first edition; no library possesses it”¹¹. Likewise, other writers on Širvydas and his works (J. Kraševskis, A. Balinskis, Ad. Jocheris, L. Jucevičius, Kajet. Nezabitauskas, P. Kėpenas, and others) knew only the last three editions, and most often only two. The 19th-century writers D. Poška, S. Valiūnas, and A. Klementas, and, a hundred years later, E. Volteris, unaware of the publication years of the first editions of SzDi, confused the dictionary’s editions. In his bibliography, the early 20th-century Polish bibliographer St. Estreicher said that the existence of the original of the first edition was supposedly doubtful¹².

A copy of the first edition of SzDi, previously mentioned by no one, was discovered by the Russian literary historian A. Orlov in the library of the Moscow Synodal Printing House. He wrote: “… outstanding for their rarity are… Širvydas’s Polish–Latin–Lithuanian dictionaries: 4 copies of the third edition (1642) and 1 copy of the second or first edition (emphasis ours — K. P.)”¹³. Three years later, another Russian literary historian, V. Pogorielovas, working with the linguists F. Fortunatov and V. Porėzinsk-

⁸ Constantino Szyrwid, Ad Studiosam Iuventutem, Dictionarium trium linguarum, Tertia editio, Vilnae, MDC XLII.

⁹ We will henceforth refer to “Dictionarium trium linguarum” by the abbreviation SzDi.

¹⁰ F. M. Sobieszczański, Szyrwid Konstanty, — Encyklopedyja powszechna, 24, 876, Warszawa, 1867.

¹¹ M. Stankiewicz, Bibliografia Litewska, od 1547 do 1701 r., 36, Kraków, 1889.

¹² St. Estreicher, Bibliografia Polska, Część III, Tom XIX, 338, Kraków, 1934.

¹³ Библиотека Московской Синодальной Типографии, часть первая — рукописи, выпуск первый, сборники, описатель Александр Орлов, III, Москва, 1896.

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more broadly informed. He wrote: “Likewise, Knapski’s dictionary is an abridgment of Širvydas’s Polish–Latin–Lithuanian dictionaries, although they do not entirely resemble the aforementioned editions of Synonima (Knapski’s Thesaurus — K. P.): the library holds copies of three editions of those (Širvydas’s) dictionaries: 1) One copy without the beginning and title page, probably a copy of the first edition, which, as far as is known, appeared in 1629 …”14. After these words, the author added a significant note about the first edition in a footnote: “It seems to be the only surviving copy of the first edition. I provide this information about the first edition on the authority of Fortunatov and Porzhezinski”¹⁵. Apparently relying on this information, in 1924 V. Biržiška, compiler of “Lietuvių bibliografija,” mentioned a copy of the first edition¹⁶. After that, the fate of a copy of the first edition remained unknown for a long time. Perhaps no one noticed it because librarians who did not know Lithuanian had given it the misleading title: “Лексикон голандско латинский без начала и конца” (Cf. the handwritten note at the top of leaf 10 of the dictionary original).

In 1957, Prof. K. Jablonskis found the copy of the first edition mentioned by Orlov in the Central State Archive of Historical Documents and Ancient Acts in Moscow, to which the holdings of the former Moscow Synodal Library had been transferred. Photocopies of the original are held in the manuscript collections of the Institute of Lithuanian Language and Literature of the Lithuanian SSR Academy of Sciences and Vilnius State V. Kapsukas University.

That Širvydas was the author of this copy, lacking a title page, beginning, and end, is evidenced by the phonetic, grammatical, and lexical features it shares with the third, fourth, and fifth editions of SzDi, as well as with “Punktai sakymų.” It is true that the copy of SzDi in question is shorter than the copy of the third edition. This difference, however, is connected with the different Polish and Latin sources used for the first and third editions of SzDi. The presumed first edition used part of N. Folkmar’s 1623–24 edition of the dictionary, published under B. A. Fontan’s name as “Dictionarii Quadrilinguis Latino germanopolonograeci Editio Quarta Polonicolatina”¹⁷, whereas the third edition used G. Knapski’s “Thesaurus” (1621).

Since data on the second edition of SzDi are also lacking, and the copy of the edition in question has neither a title page nor a beginning, it cannot be definitively assigned to the first edition. It is clear only that it is one of the copies of the first two editions of SzDi. Until new information about the early editions comes to light, this bibliographical problem will remain unresolved. Given the extent of the incomplete surviving copy of SzDi, the bibliographical tradition, and other circumstances, we shall provisionally regard it as a copy of the first edition.

Mažai ką galima pasakyti apie antrąjį (1631) leidimą. Apie jo pasirodymą vienintelę žinią randame trečiojo leidimo (1642) pratartyje, kur rašoma: „Šį trijų kalbų žodyną į šviesą išleido 1631 m. Vilniaus akademijos spaustuvė“.

¹⁴ Library of the Moscow Synodal Printing House, Part One — Manuscripts, Issue Two, Collections and Lexicons, compiled by Valeriy Pogorelov, Moscow, 102, 1899.

¹⁵ Ibid., 103.

¹⁶ V. Biržiška, Lietuvių bibliografija, 1, 21, Kaunas, 1924.

¹⁷ For more on the source of the Polish–Latin part of the first edition of SzDi, see K. Pakalka, “On the source of the Polish part of K. Širvydas’s ‘Dictionarium trium linguarum.’” — Lietuvos TSR Mokslų akademijos darbai, A 1 (8), 229–233, Vilnius, 1960.

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Not a single copy of the second edition is known, and it is mentioned by no bibliographer. Perhaps the copy that we have provisionally assigned to the first edition belongs to the second edition. It should be noted that L. Rėza’s notes to “Dainos” mention a copy of the 1631 edition of SzDi, from page 20 of which the word “Bojarzyn. Nobilis inferioris ordinis” is quoted¹⁸; for now, however, we have no grounds for regarding it as a copy of the second edition of SzDi, since the quoted word may perhaps have been taken from the third edition of SzDi (1642) (in the third edition, the word “Bojarzyn. Nobilis inferioris ordinis. Baioras” is on p. 20, in the fourth on p. 14, and in the fifth on p. 17). If L. Rėza was indeed correct in indicating the year of the dictionary edition, then the 1631 SzDi he mentions was already of the same size as the 1642 SzDi.

The rapid appearance of the second edition may perhaps be explained in part either by the fact that the author himself found the first edition insufficient in scope from the outset, or by the possibility that the small number of copies of the first edition had sold out or been lost in wars and fires. It may be supposed that Širvydas could have contributed to the preparation of the 1631 edition, since he died that same year.

Since the title pages of the first edition have not survived and not a single copy of the second edition is known, we therefore know nothing about the dictionary headwords or the prefaces of these editions.

Prof. J. Balčikonis linkęs manyti, kad Širvydo žodyno pirmasis leidimas (1629) buvęs pavadintas „Clauis linguae Lithuanicae“. Jis savo prielaidą grindžia tuo, kad pavadinimu clauis buvo mada vadinti ne tik gramatikas, bet ir žodynus (pvz., Clauis linguae Latinae Basileae 1716)¹⁹.

There is no basis for considering the “Clauis linguae Lithuanicae” mentioned by bibliographers to be the title of the first edition of the dictionary, since the Jesuit historians Alegambe and Rostowski, and the other bibliographers who later drew on them, list three separate works by Širvydas: “Clauis linguae Lithuanicae,” “Dictionarium,” and “Puncta.” Since Alegambe’s book “Bibliotheca Scriptorum Societatis Iesu” has no separate section on dictionaries in its subject index, he mentions both Širvydas’s dictionary and his grammar in the same “Grammatica” section.

The Jesuit historians Alegambe and Rostowski called Širvydas’s dictionary “Dictionarium trium linguarum,” following the order of the three languages in it. Alegambe alone moves Latin from second place to first in the title. In his book “Bibliotheca Scriptorum Societatis Iesu” (1642, p. 84), he calls Širvydas’s dictionary “Dictionarium—Latino—Polono—Lithuanicum.” Perhaps this was the title of the first edition of SzDi, if Alegambe was not mistaken here. In his work “Lithuanicarum Societatis Iesu Historiarum” (1768, p. 467), Rostowski calls the dictionary “Dictionarium Polono—Latino—Lithuanicū.”

It is not known what the author himself called the first and second editions of the dictionary. There is reason to believe that the title was “Dictionarium trium linguarum,” since the preface to the third edition of SzDi states: “Dictionarium hoc trium linguarum (emphasis ours — K. P.) Vilnae Typis Academicis Anno 1631 in lucem proderat...”. It may therefore be supposed that the 1631 (II) edition was also en-

¹⁸ Dainos oder Litthauische Volkslieder gesamelt, übersetzt und mit gegenüberstehenden Urtext herausgegeben von L. I. Rhesa, 310, Königsberg, 1825.

¹⁹ J. Balčikonis, Otrembskio lietuviški tekstai. — „Literatūra ir menas“, Nr. 15, 1957.

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called “Dictionarium trium linguarum.” It is difficult to believe that the title of the first edition by the same author would have differed from that of the second and later editions.

Since Širvydas’s dictionary explained the words of three languages in parallel, it was given the customary term for fifteenth- to seventeenth-century trilingual dictionaries, “Dictionarium trium linguarum”²⁰.

Širvydas did not follow those lexicographers²¹ who mentioned in the dictionaries they compiled the languages from which the words were drawn. Neither Širvydas nor those who continued his work adopted G. Knapski’s title “Thesaurus,” although the third edition of SzDi was compiled on the basis of G. Knapski’s dictionary.

Trečiojo leidimo (1642) egzemplioriai yra taip pat reti ir ilgai nebuvo žinomi. Apie vieną defektuotą trečiojo leidimo egzempliorių laikraštyje „Виленский Вестник“ (1861) buvo rašoma, kad ligi šiol bibliografams buvęs žinomas tik ketvirtasis ir penktasis SzDi leidimo egzempliorius. Pirmųjų trijų leidimų originalai tuo metu nebuvę rasti nei Rusijoje (Peterburgo dvasinėje akademijoje, kuriai atitekusios buvusios Vilniaus jėzuitų akademijos biblioteka, nei Kijevo universiteto lenkiškų leidinių labai turtingoje bibliotekoje, nei Charkovo, kur pervežta Vilniaus universiteto bibliotekos dalis, nei pagaliau Karaliaučiuje, kur visada klestėjęs lietuvių kalbos studijavimas), nei užsienio bibliotekose. Tik paskiau Peterburgo viešojoje imperatorinėje bibliotekoje, be ketvirtojo ir penktojo leidimo, pavykę surasti defektuotą (trečiojo leidimo) egzempliorių, kurį iš karto buvę sunku identifikuoti. Pagaliau iš Oksfordo Bodlėjaus bibliotekos spausdinto katalogo pavykę sužinoti, kad ten esąs egzempliorius yra 1642 m. leidimo, t. y. trečiojo leidimo. Gavus iš Oksfordo detalių šio egzemplioriaus aprašymą, buvę nustatyta, kad Peterburge esantis žodynas yra trečiojo leidimo egzempliorius²². Šis Peterburgo viešosios imperatorinės bibliotekos egzempliorius Orlovui nebuvo žinomas. (Jis Maskvos sinodalinės tipografijos bibliotekoje surado keturis trečiojo leidimo egzempliorius.)²³

To date, only three copies of the third edition of SzDi have been found in the Moscow Central State Archive of Historical Documents and Ancient Acts, which received the books of the former library of the Moscow Synodal Printing House. One of these copies was recently transferred by the Moscow Central State Archive of Historical Documents and Ancient Acts to the Central Archive of the Lithuanian SSR. One copy of the third edition of SzDi formerly held in the library of the Moscow Synodal Printing House has still not been found (it may have ended up in the section for defective books, whose cataloguing and identification in the archive are not yet complete).

In addition, “The History of Old Lithuanian Books” mentions two more copies of the third edition, one of which is said to be held in England at the Bodleian Library in Oxford—

²⁰ Dictionaries with this and similar titles were popular, for example: Dictionarium trium linguarum Cracoviae, 1550; Dictionarium trium linguarum Joanis Murmeli Cracoviae apud haered Iac. Siebeneycher, 1615.

²¹ Nicolao Volkamaro’s “Dictionarium Trilinguae Tripatitum Ad Discendam Linguam Latinam Polonicam Et Germanicam accommodatum...” MDXCVI; another author called his dictionary “Dictionarius trium linguarum: Latine, Teutonice et Polonice, petiora vocabula continens” (1528, 1541, 1592).

²² Notes on the Earliest Vilnius Publications in the Lithuanian Language, Vilnius Gazette, No. 60, 1861.

²³ Library of the Moscow Synodal Printing House, Part One—Manuscripts, Issue One, Collections, cataloguer Alexander Orlov, III, Moscow, 1896.

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…collection, another was found in 1930 in Finland, in the library of the University of Helsinki²⁴.

Širvydo žodyno ketvirtasis (1677) ir penktasis (1713) leidimas daugeliui bibliografų buvo gerai žinomi, išlikusių egzempliorių yra daugiau ir dabar²⁵. Tikriausiai, paskutiniai leidimai buvo leidžiami didesniu tiražu.

The third, fourth, and fifth editions of SzDi were printed through the efforts of those who continued Širvydas’s work. They nowhere identified themselves as publishers.

The title pages and title-page headings of the last three editions (III—V) are identical. The dictionary’s title, “Dictionarium trium linguarum,” is followed by the words “In usum Studiosae Iuventutis” (For the use of studious youth). These words briefly express the purpose of the dictionary, which is set out more fully in its preface, “Ad Studiosam Iuventutem” (To studious youth).

The author’s first name, surname, and title are given in full: “Auctore Constantino Szyrw id e Societate Iesu” (The author, Konstantinas Širvydas, a member of the Society of Jesus). In the fourth and fifth editions, the publishers added the initials R. P. before the author’s surname. They stand for “Reverendi Patris” (of the Most Reverend Father). This allows us to suppose that Širvydas may still have contributed to the preparation of the third edition of SzDi; otherwise, these initials would also have appeared in the third edition. Centered on the title page, after the author’s surname, is the emblem of the Jesuit press. The press emblem in the third edition of SzDi is rectangular, with an anchor inside an ellipse. The anchor ends in a cross bearing the letters X and P. Below, hands emerging from clouds hold the anchor. Above the hands, the moon is on the right and the sun on the left. The words “Concordia fida” (Trustworthy concord) are inscribed in the ellipse. The anchor’s hook also bears the inscription “Anchora Sacra Deus” (God is the sacred anchor). The press emblem in the fourth edition is almost the same as that in the third. The press emblem in the fifth edition is also rectangular; inside it, in an oval, are the letters IHS, with an engraving of kneeling angels on either side of the oval. At the bottom of the press emblems in these editions is the approval authorizing printing: “Cum Superiorum permissu editum” (Published with the permission of the superiors). The approval is followed by the words “Tertia editio recognita et aucta” (Third edition, revised and enlarged), “Quarta editio recognita et aucta” (Fourth edition, revised and enlarged), and “Quinta editio recognita et aucta” (Fifth edition, revised and enlarged). At the bottom of the title pages are given the place of printing (Vilnae), the press that printed the book (Typis Academicis Societatis Iesu), and the year (Anno Domini M. DC. XLII., M.DC.LXXVII, M.DCC.XIII). On the verso of the second title leaf, a kind of approval written in Latin and printed in larger type is headed “Summa privilegii.” This “Summa privilegii” granted the rector of the Vilnius Jesuit Academy the exclusive right to print and sell the dictionary. The Lithuanian translation of “Summa privilegii” is as follows: “Let no one print, sell, attempt to sell, or print this dictionary in two or three languages, on any pretext whatsoever, without the consent of the Most Reverend Father Rector of the Society of Jesus in Vilnius—

²⁴ V. Biržiška, History of Old Lithuanian Books, 1, 180, Chicago, 1953.

²⁵ The Rare Books Department of the Central Library of the Lithuanian SSR Academy of Sciences alone holds 12 copies of the fifth edition, while the manuscript collection of the Vilnius State V. Kapsukas University Scientific Library holds 6 copies.

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consent. Otherwise, the offender shall be punished under the privileges granted by His Sacred Royal Majesty.” The “Summa privilegii” in all three of the last editions is identical.

A brief annotation of the SzDi dictionary²⁶ appears on the title pages, but all this is explained in greater detail in the concise Latin preface to the dictionary, “Ad Studiosam Iuventutem” (To studious youth). It occupies the second leaf of SzDi. The prefaces to the third, fourth, and fifth editions of SzDi are almost identical. Here is a translation of the preface to the third edition:

“This dictionary in three languages was first published in 1631 by the press of the Vilnius Academy. But when all its copies had already been dispersed, you, who toil within the walls of grammar and yearn for more refined literature, could no longer conveniently find Latin words to emulate for your expressions here. Your need prompted its reprinting (the dictionary—K.P.). Therefore, this most just and honorable need had to be met. And this indispensable work, prepared anew with the approval of the Reverend Father Rector, the Patron of this Academy, is presented for your use. You will see how much this latest edition surpasses the previous one in the correction and addition of many words and expressions, and especially in its greater accumulation of synonyms.”

So, diligent students, make use of this work, so well suited to your grammar exercises, even though it consists almost entirely of ordinary words; with it as your guide, you will lay for yourselves the smoothest path to the great treasures of the Latin language concealed in the shrines of poetry and eloquence. Farewell!”

There were various reasons for the reprinting of SzDi. The prefaces point to them: the political circumstances of the time, which were highly significant; the number of students at the Jesuit Academy; the dictionary’s practical nature; and so on. The prefaces allude to political reasons for the reprints, but do not specify them clearly. The preface to the third edition says that it was reprinted because “... all its copies (of the 1631 dictionary—K.P.) had already been dispersed,...”; the prefaces to the fourth and fifth editions note that they were reprinted “because of the violence of the times and the storms of war” (verum cum omnia exemplaria eius injuria temporum ac tempestate bellica interierint). Only the words “injuria temporum ac tempestate bellica interierint” distinguish the prefaces to the fourth and fifth editions of SzDi from that of the third. The prefaces to the third, fourth, and fifth editions give the publication date of the respective preceding edition of SzDi: 1631 in the third, 1642 in the fourth, and 1677 in the fifth.

The preface “Ad Studiosam Iuventutem” states that the dictionary is intended for the Academy’s students. Thus SzDi was intended first and foremost for the use of the Academy’s students, and also for non-Lithuanian clergy in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania—“those who knew Polish or Latin better than Lithuanian…”²⁷ The brief preface touches on the character and scope of the dictionary. The prefaces to the third, fourth, and fifth editions all state that the new edition

²⁶ Such annotations and long title headings for books, grammars, and dictionaries remained fashionable for a long time. Compare the catechism of M. Mažvydas, the grammar of D. Klein, and the dictionary titles of J. Brodovski, F. V. Hak, P. Ruigys, and others.

²⁷ B. A. Larin, A Brief Historical Overview of Lithuanian Lexicography. “Lexicographical Collection,” issue II, 119, Moscow, 1957.

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surpassing the previous one in scope and said to have been revised with a greater number of words, proverbs, and especially synonyms. In fact, this applies only to the third edition, since the fourth and fifth editions differ from the third in almost nothing.

In addition to the five editions of Širvydas’s “Dictionarium” listed above, the Polish writer J. Kraśevskis, in his work “Wilno”²⁸, mentions a 1712 edition of Širvydas’s dictionary. We find a persuasive explanation concerning this purported 1712 edition of SzDi in the aforementioned article “Заметки о древнейших Виленских изданиях на Литовском языке,” which states: “It should be noted that the purported 1712 edition of K. Širvydas’s dictionary mentioned by certain bibliographers, for example Kraśevskis, did not exist. Naturally, Kraśevskis is not a reliable source, since the error arose because the bibliographers had before them a copy of the fifth edition (1713), in which the final stroke of the Roman numeral MDCCXIII had, for some reason or other, been rubbed off or was illegible. We ourselves have also seen such a copy, now belonging to the local (Petrapilis — K. P.) Roman Catholic Academy, in which the final stroke of the numeral XIII is completely obscured by the seal of the former Vilnius Jesuit Academy; it is quite possible that this very copy gave rise to the bibliographical error in question.”

The Polish bibliographer F. M. Sobieščiankis²⁹ mentions a 1718 edition of Širvydas. S. Baltramaitis repeats this information in his “Сборник библиографических материалов…”³⁰ St. Estreicher also mentions a 1718 edition of SzDi and calls it “editio sexta”³¹. As evidence, he even gave examples from that edition, which show that Estreicher, who did not know Lithuanian, mistook Elger’s 1718 Latvian-language dictionary for a 1718 edition of Širvydas’s dictionary.

Thus, neither the 1712 nor the 1718 editions existed. Had they been published, we would have more reliable information about them. Moreover, if there had been a 1712 edition, it would have been mentioned in the preface to the 1713 edition. But why would SzDi have been published in 1713 if a 1712 edition had in fact existed?

Besides “Dictionarium trium linguarum,” another lexicographical work by Širvydas has survived to the present day: “Dictionarium Polonolatinum”³², published in Warsaw in 1641.

The title page states that “Dictionarium Polonolatinum” was intended for Polish Jesuit schools. It is the same trilingual dictionary by Širvydas, but without the Lithuanian section. It is called “Editio nova” perhaps because it was a different publication from “Dictionarium trium linguarum.” The absence of a preface makes it difficult to clarify the publication history of “Dictionarium Polonolatinum.”

²⁸ Wilno od początków jego do roku 1750 przez J. I. Kraszewskiego, IV, 228, Wilno, 1842.

²⁹ F. M. Sobieszczanski, Szyrwid Konstanty, — Encyklopedyja powszechna, 24, 876, Warszawa, 1867.

³⁰ Сборник библиографических материалов для географии, истории, истории права, статистики и этнографии Литвы, составил С. Балtramайтнс, 396, С — Петербург, 1904.

³¹ St. Estreicher, Bibliografia Polska, Tom XXX, 359, Kraków, 1934.

³² Its full title is: Dictionarium Polonolatinum In usum Studiosa Iuventutis Polona Auctore Constantino Szyrwid e Societate Iesu: Editio Nova. Varsaviae Apud Ionem Trelpinski, SRM, Typogr., Anno Domini 1641. Its Lithuanian title would be: K. Širvydas’s Polish–Latin dictionary, by a member of the Society of Jesus, intended for Polish students. New edition, printed in Warsaw at Trelpinski’s printing house, 1641.

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The history of Širvydas’s trilingual dictionary is documented chiefly by the prefaces to the last three editions (1642, 1677, 1713) and by the scant notes of bibliographers. Because bibliographical data are lacking, some questions concerning the dictionary’s history cannot yet be definitively resolved. This remains a task for further research.

At the beginning of the seventeenth century, the appearance of SzDi as a book of secular content was a major and significant event in the cultural history of Lithuania. This dictionary was the first printed dictionary and, in less than a century, saw as many as five editions. After Širvydas, Lithuanian lexicographical work came to a standstill in Lithuania for nearly two centuries. In Širvydas’s dictionary, the Lithuanian language was for the first time placed on a par with Polish and Latin, the languages that had by then gained prominence in public life. From its appearance to the present day, SzDi has been widely known and used, since its Lithuanian section provided a substantial body of Lithuanian vocabulary.

Širvydas’s dictionary contributed greatly to the enrichment and standardization of the literary language. It is an important monument in the history of the Lithuanian language, and its comprehensive study can provide substantial material for Lithuanian studies.

FROM THE HISTORY OF K. ŠIRVYDAS’S DICTIONARY

“DICTIONARIUM TRIUM LINGUARUM”

К. М. ПАКАЛКА

Summary

The founder of Lithuanian lexicography is the well-known writer of the early seventeenth century, K. Širvydas. Before the appearance of his dictionary, “Dictionarium trium linguarum” (1629), only a few minor lexicographical notes in the form of glosses are found in certain Lithuanian books or translated editions, manuscripts, and various written monuments in Russian, Polish, and Latin.

K. Širvydas’s first Lithuanian dictionary, “Dictionarium trium linguarum,” had five editions: I — 1629, II — 1631, III — 1642, IV — 1677, V — 1713. Only one defective copy of the first or second edition has survived to the present day. The first notices of this edition are found in the book by the Russian literary scholar A. S. Orlov: “The Library of the Moscow Synodal Printing House,” I — Manuscripts, fasc. I, Collections, catalogued by Alexander Orlov, Moscow, 1896. Drawing on information provided by F. F. Fortunatov and V. K. Porzhezinsky, V. Pogorelov supplemented A. S. Orlov’s account of the first edition of “Dictionarium trium linguarum” with more reliable information. In 1957, Academician K. Jablonskis discovered a defective copy of one of the first two editions of “Dictionarium” in the Moscow Central State Archive of Ancient Documents (it had come from the former library of the Moscow Synodal Printing House).

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The year in which the second edition appeared (1631) is known only from the preface „Ad Studiosam Iuventutem“ to the third edition.

One defective copy of the third, enlarged edition was discovered in 1861 in the former Imperial Public Library in St. Petersburg. Academician A. S. Orlov found four copies of the third edition in the library of the Moscow Synodal Printing House. One of the two copies preserved in the Moscow Central State Archive of Ancient Acts was transferred to the Central Archive of the Lithuanian SSR.

More copies have survived from the fourth (1677) and fifth (1713) editions.

Besides the aforementioned editions of „Dictionarium trium linguarum“, printed in Vilnius, Širvydas’s dictionary „Dictionarium Polonolatinum“ was published in Warsaw in 1641.

The references by Polish bibliographers J. Kraszewski, F. M. Sobieszański, St. Estreicher, and others to editions of the dictionary „Dictionarium trium linguarum“ from 1712 and 1718 are erroneous, since no such editions actually existed.

K. Širvydas’s dictionary was named, in keeping with the tradition of 15th–17th-century trilingual dictionaries, „Dictionarium trium linguarum“. The prefaces „Ad Studiosam Iuventutem“ to the third, fourth, and fifth editions briefly set out the reasons for the new edition, as well as the nature and purpose of the dictionary. The dictionary was compiled exclusively for practical purposes and intended for students of the Vilnius Jesuit Academy.

The aforementioned preface provides much valuable material for the history of Lithuanian lexicography, noting that the third edition was reprinted: „Verum cum omnia exemplaria eius iam distracta essent“; and the fourth and fifth: „Verum cum omnia exemplaria eius injuria temporum ac tempestate bellica interierint“. The preface to the third edition differs from those to the fourth and fifth editions only in these quoted words.