Schiller Friedrich.Maria Stuart: A Tragedy in 5 Acts.Lviv, 1896

“No, that one is not yet a monarch who must care / To please the world…”

Friedrich Schiller. Mary Stuart: A Tragedy in 5 Acts / Translated into Ukrainian by B. Hrynchenko [V. Chaichenko]; published by Vasyl Lukych.

Lviv: published by the editorial board of “Zorya,” 1896. — 229 pp. — Printed at the Printing House of the Shevchenko Scientific Society under the supervision of K. Bednarsky.

In a paper publisher’s cover with the title repeated on the front and the price “50 kr.” The cover has faded to a yellowish-brown hue; on the back cover, a lighter grey-blue patch of the paper’s original color remains; the edges of the cover are frayed, the spine is worn, with paper loss at the bottom, and there are small spots on the front cover. The block’s paper shows natural yellowing and toning, with moisture stains in the lower corners of the leaves; the bottom edges of the leaves are uneven. On the title page, there is an owner’s inscription in ink: “From the books of O. H…, Lviv, 24.06.1985.” On the back cover, there is a pencil inscription: “Price / 2800.0.” Condition: good.

A lifetime edition of Borys Hrynchenko’s translation. The book has historical and cultural value and is of collector’s interest.

INFORMATION

Hrynchenko could not publish this translation in Kyiv or Chernihiv: the Ems Ukase of 1876 prohibited the publication of Ukrainian translations in the Russian Empire, so his Schiller was published in Lviv. “Mary Stuart” (1800) is a tragedy about the final days of the Scottish queen in English captivity and the duel between two queens, Mary and Elizabeth; Friedrich Schiller (1759–1805) wrote it in blank verse, and Hrynchenko preserved this form—he “translated it into verse,” as stated on the title page.

Borys Hrynchenko (1863–1910) was a writer, linguist, and compiler of the “Dictionary of the Ukrainian Language”; alongside his surname on the title page is his poetic pseudonym, V. Chaichenko. The difference between the dialects of the Dnieper region and Galicia is evident in the book itself: in the cast of characters, the editorial board explains in a note that the translator had written “Count” (Hrap) throughout, but they replaced this word with “Count” (Graf).

The book was published by Vasyl Lukych—the pseudonym of Volodymyr Levytskyi (1856–1938), who edited “Zorya” in the 1890s, the literary journal of the Shevchenko Scientific Society, which brought together writers from both parts of Ukraine. “Zorya” published both “Wilhelm Tell” and Schiller’s “Mary Stuart.” The volume was printed at the Printing House of the Shevchenko Scientific Society under the supervision of K. Bednarsky, with a publisher’s swallow mark on the title page; a list of corrections is included at the end.