''The Goldsmith's Treasure'' ( Croatian: ''Zlatarovo zlato'') is a

historical novel Historical fiction is a literary genre in which a fictional plot takes place in the setting of particular real historical events. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to oth ...

by Croatian

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...

August Šenoa August Ivan Nepomuk Eduard Šenoa (; originally Schönoa; 14 November 1838 – 13 December 1881) was a Croatian novelist, playwright, poet, and editor. Born to an ethnic German and Slovak family, Šenoa became a key figure in the developmen ...

, among the most distinguished works of 19th-century

Croatian literature Croatian literature refers to literary works attributed to the medieval and modern culture of the Croats, Croatia, and Croatian language, Croatian. Besides the modern language whose shape and orthography were standardized in the late 19th centu ...

as well as the most well-known piece of literature on

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

. Set in 16th-century Zagreb, right after Croatian-Slovene Peasant Revolt, the novel depicts Zagreb's urban life, fall of

nobility Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally appointed by and ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. T ...

and rise of citizenry that is slowly taking over institutions of society, intertwined by a plot of forbidden youth love of Dora, a

goldsmith A goldsmith is a Metalworking, metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Modern goldsmiths mainly specialize in jewelry-making but historically, they have also made cutlery, silverware, platter (dishware), plat ...

's daughter, and Pavle, a nobleman. The novel was originally published in serial form between August and December 1871 in Vienac magazine. It was subsequently translated into

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

Esperanto Esperanto (, ) is the world's most widely spoken Constructed language, constructed international auxiliary language. Created by L. L. Zamenhof in 1887 to be 'the International Language' (), it is intended to be a universal second language for ...

, French,

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

, Polish,

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

, Slovak and Slovene. The first translation into English was published in 2015 and in 2020 in

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

. Andrija Maurović and Radovan Devlić published comic adaptations of the novel.Sabol, Tea (2020)
"MAUROVIĆEVA OBRADA DJELA HRVATSKIH PISACA (ZLATAROVO ZLATO, ČUVAJ SE SENJSKE RUKU I GRIČKA VJEŠTICA)"
''Croatica et Slavica Iadertina'' 16 (1), 249-273. A sculpture of central character Dora Krupić by Ivo Kerdić in the niche of the Stone Gate is one of Zagreb's most noted literary landmarks; Dora's home in the novel is situated near the Gate.

References

{{Reflist 1871 in Croatia 1871 novels Croatian novels History of Zagreb