#Bilbioteca adelphi

[theadelphiproject]

Manoscritto trovato a Saragozza / Manuscrit trouvé à Saragosse / The Manuscript Found in Saragossa | Written by Potocki (1761-1815) over decades, published by Biblioteca Adelphi in 1965.
 Potocki was a Polish Count, adventurer, writer, army officer, educated in Switzerland, and the author of this one notable book.  The book was printed in parts, written in more than one version, rumour has it that parts of the original were lost and were back-translated to French, from Polish. Potocki write in French, and due to his upbringing, despite being a Polish count, is also rumoured to have not been particularly fluent in Polish.

Stories of his life, and death, are a bit fantastical, which is suiting to this book he wrote.  Some suggest he had advanced syphilis, some that he was just very odd. There are comparisons to tastes of the the Marquis de Sade, rumours of incest, and the story of his death is that he committed suicide after having a silver bullet made from the family teapot lid, blessed by a priest. Lupine delusions, and all that.  

He had a Turkish valet with whom he was rather close, and a dog named Lulu. He was the first to balloon over Warsaw, with Blanchard, and insisted those two join them.

Painting by Alexander Varnek