ANTONI MĄCZAK JAKO HISTORYK PODRÓŻY
ANTONI MĄCZAK AS A HISTORIAN OF TRAVEL

Summary/Abstract: Antoni Mączak (1928–2003) was a historian of general history of modern times, a professor at Warsaw University. His interests evolved from economic issues, through social history, to clientelism. Among his works, a special place is occupied by travel history. Antoni Mączak was a pioneer in using diaries and old travellers’ notes as a historical source. His works presented this issue in the economic perspective, at the same time being a part of a widely understood cultural history. Mączak investigated the issue of travel in an exceptionally wide chronological range concentrating on the 16 , 17 and 19 centuriesth th th . He did not however avoid reflections on antiquity, the 18th or the beginnings of the 20th century. Antoni Mączak’s works reflect many trends characteristic for European historiography from the second half of the 20th century, in particular historical psychology, characteristic for Mączak comparative studies and quantitative research. Antoni Mączak was also fond of travelling. A historian cannot often find themselves in the area of their own research competences. In this case when writing about travelling, Mączak met this criterion, about which wrote Władysław Konopczyński when he remarked that a scholar who writes about political history and does not take an active part in politics knows about the issue of his research no more than a spinster about married life.

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