The premature death of Waclaw Borowy in October, 1950, is a great loss for Polish literary scholarship and for Polish culture in general. By common consent Borowy was the most outstanding literary historian and critic of his generation. In his work he blended the best traditions of philological study with a modern approach to literature. He was a man of huge reading both in Polish literature and in foreign literatures and he was well versed in history, philology, and the arts. His thorough knowledge of foreign languages (French, English, German, Italian, Spanish, and Russian) enabled him to present Polish authors and Polish literary trends against a broad comparative background and to evaluate them in an objective fashion. Finally, Borowy was a master of Polish literary style, uniting perfect clarity and conciseness with charming elegance, subtle humor, and fine irony. Nothing written by him was ever dull, not even his bibliographical surveys!