Quo Vadis
A Narrative of the Time of Nero
by Henryk Sienkiewicz 1846–1916
The book, and the century it came out of.
Translated by Jeremiah Curtin
A Roman officer wants a hostage girl from a barbarian court, and cannot understand why she will not simply be taken — she belongs to a sect that meets in the catacombs. Sienkiewicz wrote for a Poland that did not exist on any map, said his work was meant to strengthen the hearts of his readers, and took the Nobel in 1905. Nero burns the city on schedule. Illustrated with 50 full-page plates — paintings by Martin, Eastlake and Etty among them.
MY DEAR FRIEND AND CLASSMATE, I BEG TO DEDICATE THIS VOLUME.
Quo Vadis, by Henryk Sienkiewicz, complete and unabridged. Spelling and punctuation follow present-day American usage; the sentences, the paragraphs and the voice are the author’s, word for word.
It was written in another era and may carry attitudes a reader today will find dated. They are kept for the sake of the work and do not reflect the views of this house.
- Series
- Adventure & the Sea
- Format
- Ebook
- Extent
- about 640 pages
- Reading time
- about 13 hours
- Illustrations
- Full-page plates, credited
- Text
- Complete, unabridged
- Translation
- Jeremiah Curtin
- Language
- en
- This edition
- 2026
- ISBN
- 9785501516175
50 paintings are bound into this edition
Six of them are shown here, taken from the volume itself. Each is reproduced full page and named with its painter and year.
Written 1895, in a country that was not on the map
Poland had been partitioned out of existence for a century; Sienkiewicz was writing for a nation that existed only as a language and a memory, under Russian censorship. A novel about a persecuted minority holding to its faith while an empire burns was not read as ancient history by his first audience.
It made him internationally famous and contributed to his Nobel Prize in 1905. Poland reappeared on the map thirteen years later.
This book in culture: 6 versions
Most people meet a book like this one on a screen first. Here is what was made of it — and none of these is the book.
The whole afterlife of Quo Vadis — screen, stage and beyond →
- 1901 Quo vadis? Ferdinand Zecca
- 1913 Quo Vadis Enrico Guazzoni
- 1924 Quo Vadis Gabriellino D'Annunzio
- 1951 Quo Vadis Mervyn LeRoy
- 1985 Quo Vadis? Franco Rossi miniseries
- 2001 Quo Vadis Jerzy Kawalerowicz
A page from this edition
Not a mock-up: this page is taken from the finished volume. The ornament above the chapter belongs to its shelf and to no other, the opening letter is set as a drop capital, and the plate below carries the name of the painter and the year.
Both photographed from the finished volume.
Quo Vadis, first published 1896, issued in this edition by Aeneas Press in 2026 on the Adventure & the Sea shelf. Newly set, with the ornament of its series above each chapter and a drop capital on the opening page. Illustrated with full-page plates, each named with its painter.
Published as an ebook and not issued in print by this house; it carries one ISBN, 9785501516175, and is supplied worldwide. This edition — its setting, its ornament, its cover art, and the selection and attribution of its plates — © 2026 Aeneas Press.
Questions readers ask
- Is this the whole of Quo Vadis?
- Yes — complete and unabridged. Nothing is cut, condensed or paraphrased. This is the book, not a summary of it.
- What exactly did you change?
- The spelling and the punctuation follow present-day American usage. Henryk Sienkiewicz's sentences are untouched — same words, same order, same rhythm.
- Are the pictures really in the book?
- Yes. The edition carries full-page plates bound into the text, each one named with its painter and the year it was made. Six of them are shown on this page.
- How long is it?
- About 640 pages, which is roughly about 13 hours of reading.
- What do I actually get?
- An illustrated ebook with its own ISBN, sold worldwide. One file, yours to keep, readable on any device.
