Dictionary of Franciszek Salezy Jezierski. Journalism in the Encyclopaedic Form

In 1791, a posthumous work by Franciszek Salezy Jezierski entitled Niektóre wyrazy porządkiem abecadła zebrane stosownymi do rzeczy uwagami objaśnione was published. The scholar chose the encyclopaedic form, popular during the Enlightenment, but instead of attempting to objectively present the state of knowledge at the time, many articles were used to present his own and opinions of the Kołłątaj’s Forge [Kuźnica Kołłątajowska] on the socio-political situation in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. This article analyses some of the articles in Jezierski’s dictionary in which he criticises the social relations in the Rzeczpospolita, points out those responsible for the weaknesses of the Polish-Lithuanian state, and at the same time presents Enlightenment ideas closely related to French thinkers. His descriptions were made in a very characteristic language, which proves that he was an outstanding publicist of the Great Sejm period.