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INTRODUCTION
ShakespeareinEurope.HistoryandMemory,openswiththeessaybyTonHoense-
laars,whointhefirstparagraphconcludes:
Forsometimenow,‘EuropeanShakespeare’hasbeenawingèdphrase,andthereg-
ularsequenceofconferencesdevotedtothistopicforoveradecadenow,testifies
totheenergythattheconceptcontinuestoinspire(2008:9).
Thispublicationisyetanotherfruitofthatinspirationas,firstandforemost,
itattemptstoconfrontinitialPolishcriticismofShakespearefromtheeigh-
teenthcenturywiththerichandvariedcontextoftheEuropeanreception
oftheBardintheAgeofEnlightenment.Secondly,itpointstotheinfluences
thatWesternliterarycriticism,namely,English,FrenchandGerman,exerted
ontheinitialPolishunderstandingoftheplaywright.
Theeighteenthcenturybroughtsuchanastoundingwealthofopinions
abouttheauthorofHamletthateventhemostdiligentandcommittedresearcher
mightfindwritingaboutthehistoryofShakespearecriticismadauntingtask.
Dauntingasitmaybe,itisalsoarewardingoneasitisthegatetotheexplana-
tionofoureverincreasingfascinationwiththeBard.Theeighteenthcentury
isthesourceofeverythingthatwaslaterwrittenaboutordonewithShake-
speare.AtthattimeinEngland,Shakespearewaselevatedfromthestatusof
archaicElizabethanplaywrighttothatofEngland’sliteraryandculturalicon.
Hisworks,asJeanMarsdenobserves,‘becamepublicpropertyandanintrinsic,
evendefiningpartofnationalculture’(1995:3).Consequently,readersand
criticsaliketreatedShakespeareantext‘assecularBible’,‘asourceofuniversal
knowledgeaswellasindividualsentiment’,and‘England’sliteraryconstitu-
tion’(1995:149).
Thelastdecadesoftheeighteenthcentury,certainly,sawthebeginning
ofwhathasrecentlybeentermedastheShakespeareindustry.NicholasRowe
(1674-1718),AlexanderPope(1688-1744)andLewisTheobald(1688-
1744)providedtheimpetusforthescholarlyeditingoftheplaywrightwhich
