Początki polskiej literatury wyprawowej Przypadek Stanisława Staszica
The Beginnings of Polish Expedition Literature The Case of Stanisław Staszic

Summary/Abstract: This article concerns the beginnings of Polish expedition literature inspired by mountain exploration with particular emphasis on high mountains (in this case, these are primarily the peak parts of the Tatras). It is entirely devoted to the fundamental work on the Tatras, which is considered to be a collection of essays by the famous Enlightenment writer and geologist Stanisław Staszic published in 1815 titled O ziemiorodztwie Karpatów i innych gór i równin Polski (The geological formation of the Carpathians and other mountains and plains of Poland). It was created as a result of Staszic’s exploration of the Tatras in 1802, 1804, and 1805. Although the essays collected in it largely focus on the field research conducted by the scholar in both the mountains and lowlands, they also contain many comments on moving around the Tatras. Staszic writes, among other things, about conquering successive peaks, coping with glaciations, observing weather changes, camping style, and relations with highlanders – guides. The text also includes daily dates and sometimes information about the hours of setting off on the trail. The aforesaid elements bring some fragments of the essays closer to the form of an expedition itinerary. Staszic himself, as an explorer of the Tatras and the author of the first Polish work describing the Tatras, was considered as the “father” of Polish Tatras mountaineering, and his work functioned for many years as a type of Tatras guide for tourists visiting them.

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