[1] Teodor Narbutt was born in 1784 in the village of Szawry (present-day Voranava District of Belarus) in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, to a notable szlachta family of Trąby coat of arms.

His passion for history, culture and folklore of the lands of the former Grand Duchy was first shown after 1817, at which date he started to write historical articles for various Vilna-based newspapers.

Although largely based on folk tales, dubious and often falsified sources, the book had a tremendous impact on both historiography of Lithuania, and later on Lithuanian National Revival.

His older son, Ludwik Narbutt, became a notable commander of the Polish-Lithuanian forces in the area of Lida and was killed in 1863 in a fight against the Russians.

Narbutt was preparing a corrected second edition at the time of his death, only the summary of the Lithuanian history was published: Dzieje narodu litewskiego w krótkości zebrane (1847).

Both of these studies are critically regarded by historians because of historical inaccuracies, but Lithuanians in the 19th century, during an era of the rising national consciousness, welcomed every opportunity to derive patriotic inspiration from the past.

Narbutt maintained contact with the leading Lithuanian activists of his day and corresponded extensively with Simonas Daukantas, who in the same romantic spirit wrote the first Lithuanian-language history of Lithuania.

[10] His lack of critical judgement in differentiating between authentic and spurious sources lessened the value of his work today, but his contributions remain very important to Lithuanian history.