Abstract

This is a remarkable book for many reasons, not the least of which are the circumstances of its composition and its narrow escape from destruction. It was written during the war, between 1939 and 1943. "During the Warsaw Rising in August 1944," the author relates, "I managed to rescue the manuscript when my house was set on fire. While I was being marched to the regroupment camp it was seized by a German officer who was searching my suitcase. ‘A work of scholarship?’ he shouted, ‘you won't be needing that. There’s no more Polish culture'. He threw the manuscript into the gutter. I took a chance and retrieved it, and in this way the work was saved." The purpose of the book is also somewhat remarkable in light of the dearth of other books on what is arguably the most important thing in life for any member of the human race. Finally, the work is remarkable for its bringing together so many different texts of so many different kinds, from literature, mythology, religion, philosophy, folklore, and biography, to research in the exact sciences.