„Żegluje w dobry miśle” – polska dewiza w zbiorze „Imprese” Alcibiade Lucariniego
“Żegluje w dobry miśle [Splashes Happily]”—a Polish Maxim in Alcibiade Lucarini’s Collection “Imprese”

Summary/Abstract: The second part of Alcibiade Lucarini’s collection “Imprese dell’offitioso accademico Intronato (Imprese of the Obliging Intronato Academic” <Siena 1629>) is equipped with a Polish motto “Żegluje w dobry miśle [Splashes happily]”—a clumsy translation of the Italian sentence “Guazza alegramente.” It is most probably the only known example of a Polish maxim found in West-European collections of this kind. It is accompanied by a mysterious water bird called “laco” (Lat. lagus) of which Lucarini gained information from a popular medical encyclopaedia “Hortus sanitatis.” He could also have referred to a work by Olaus Magnus published in Rome in 1555 that depicted ethnographical and natural peculiarities of Northern Europe, and to maintain the local colour he decided to give this wood engraving the Polish inscription.

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