An Important Contribution to the Studies on Apocryphal Literature. The <em>Gospel of Nicodemus<em> in Poland: Latin Textual Tradition and Polish Translation

Abstract

The critical edition of Gesta Pilati in the Polish translation, which was edited together with a Latin text of this famous account, is one of the most important outcomes for studies on apocryphal literature. Medievalist scholar Zbigniew Izydorczk points out that the 1509 Latin manuscript kept in the Jagellonian Library reflects the traces of the earliest Latin translation of this account. Polish philologist Wiesław Wydra demonstrates that the Polish translation dating back to the end of XV Century derives from the same redaction of the Latin text handed down by the 1509 manuscript. Yet some differences suggest that the 1509 manuscript is not the direct antigraph of the translation. Indeed there exists another witness (PAU 1713) which belongs to the same family as the 1509. The Polish translation clearly agrees partly with the 1509 one, partly with the PAU 1713 one.