Pisma rozproszone. Tom I. Eseje i publicystyka 1896-1908

Abstract

Tadeusz Miciński (1873–1918) is a classic of Young Poland's literature, whose works have not yet been collected and published in a compact form. The writer, one of the finest lyricists, dramatists and novelists of the epoch, is interpreted in textbooks and research papers only on the basis of well-known texts – while a large part of his poetic, essayist and jurnalistic works has remained scattered. The aim of the project of the National Program for the Development of the Humanities (No. 1aH 15 0322 83) called: "A scientific critical edition of Tadeusz Miciński's Pisma rozproszone (Scattered Writings) in four volumes: essays, lyric, journalism" is finding, gathering, critically studying and publishing in 4 volumes the poetry, essays and journalism of Miciński. The first volume includes Miciński's writings from 1896–1908, beginning with Zapiski literackie (Literary Notes), that is, a review of a collection of novels and novellas by Ignacy Sewer Maciejowski, and his proper journalistic debut, Współczesna młodzież polska (Contemporary Polish Youth, 1897), through a volume with essays Do źródeł duszy polskiej (To the Origin of the Polish Soul, 1906), in which the author gathered in one thoughtful collection his previous essays, manifestos and poems from the years 1898–1905. This volume is the core of Volume I of Scattered Writings. Miciński, as an essayist, has been known to date most of all as the author of Do źródeł duszy polskiej (To the Origin of the Polish Soul), but it is only now, after 111 years, that this volume has been reprinted in an unaltered layout and form, and the works contributing to it have been annotated and thoroughly discussed. The other articles contained in the volume give a broad crosssection of both the writer's interest and the genre forms he used, linking them freely. Here we will find reportage writings: Białe Noce. (Wspomnienia z pobytu w Dumie) [White Nights (Memories of Visiting the Duma), 1907], a comprehensive account of his stay in Petersburg during the proceedings of the First Russian Duma (1906), and in the vicinity of the then Russian capital (Lake Ladoga, the island of Valaam); Traktat o piekle podhalańskim (The Treatise on the Podhale Hell, 1907), i.e. a report from a winter stay in Chochołów and in the neighboring villages (Dzianisz, Wierchciche, Witów) spun around caroling in these villages by the vicar from Chochołów, whom the author accompanied with his and the parish priest's approval. A previously unknown travel report by Miciński, called Połąga (Palanga, 1905), concerning a Lithuanian village by the Baltic Sea, bearing the same name – the text has now been found and printed here. At the beginning of the 20th century, Palanga was a resort compared to Zakopane, which enjoyed great popularity among the Polish intellectual and artistic elite of that time (hence the popular name: "The Baltic Sea Zakopane"). Volume I also presents Miciński as an author of ideological manifestos, in which he presents his own insights into the history of Poland, its present and its possible future. All these elements, as well as one of the many articulations of the so-called programme of "ŻycienNowe" ("New Life") contains a hybrid text that combines poetry and journalism, with a similar title: Życie Nowe (New Life, 1907). Miciński also commented on current topics, among others the ones associated with the competition for the position of the director of the City Theatre in Cracow, announced in 1905. In connection with the candidacy of Stanisław Wyspiański to this position, an article has been published, entitled Teatr-Świątynia (Theatre-Temple), where the author shares his own vision of what theatre should look like. In the years 1896–1908 Miciński wrote several theatrical and literary reviews (he reviewed the works of Marian Zdziechowski and Tadeusz Nalepiński). However, they are a margin of his interest in this period. The texts, which were included in the first volume, were prepared by Prof. Wojciech Gutowski (professor emeritus of Kazimierz Wielki University in Bydgoszcz) and the leader of the project, Dr. Marcin Bajko (University of Białystok). Miciński's works have been provided with numerous and exhaustive footnotes to facilitate reading. The volume was preceded by extensive introductions by the abovementioned researchers, in which Miciński's essays and journalistic writings are discussed. The scientific editors of the 4th edition of Miciński's Scattered Writings are Dr. Marcin Bajko and Prof. Jarosław Ławski (Chair of "East–West" Studies at the University of Białystok). Other participants of the project are: Dr. Urszula M. Pilch (Jagiellonian University) and Prof. Anna Wydrycka (University of Białystok). The edition of the four volumes was planned for 2017–2019. The next volumes of Tadeusz Miciński's Scattered Writings will be published in 2018 (volume II, journalism: 1909–July 1914) and in 2019 (volume III, journalism: August 1914–1918, volume IV, Scattered Poetry 1896–1918).