Faust. Tragedia w pięciu aktach przez A. Klingemanna z niemieckiego wolnym wierszem przetłumaczona

Abstract

Czterotomowa edycja krytyczna "Pism zebranych" księcia Edwarda Lubomirskiego (1796–1823), wydana pod redakcją prof. Jarosława Ławskiego (Kraków–Białystok 2022), wpisuje się w obchody Roku Romantyzmu Polskiego (2022). Projekt ma na celu przywrócenie postaci i dorobku Lubomirskiego, pisarza działającego na pograniczu Oświecenia i Romantyzmu, który, choć wyprzedzał Poezje Mickiewicza, został zapomniany z powodu tragicznej śmierci i związanego z nią skandalu. Lubomirski, wykształcony w Wiedniu i służący w rosyjskiej służbie dyplomatycznej (Kongres Wiedeński, misje w Berlinie i Londynie), był autorem trzech dzieł wydanych za życia: Polskiego przekładu "Fausta" A. E. F. Klingemanna (1815/1819), opatrzony obszernym Wstępem stanowiącym pierwszy polski program romantyzmu narodowego, inspirowany wzorcami niemieckimi i angielskimi. "Groby w dzień zgonu Tadeusza Kościuszki. Rycerskie Epopeje Część 1" (1821). "Opis historyczno-statystyczny Wiednia" (1821). Pośmiertnie ukazał się także jego "Szkic historyczno-statystyczny Anglii" (1829). Mimo że jego przekład Fausta został wznowiony dopiero w 2013 roku w serii "Czarny Romantyzm", reszta jego prac pozostawała niedostępna. Lubomirski, pragnąc zerwać z klasycystyczną estetyką polską, którą określał jako "kopię z kopii", widział w Fauście Klingemanna (utożsamianym później z autorem "Nocnych czuwań Bonawentury") wzór dramatu inspirującego. We Wstępie do przekładu, chcąc uniknąć krytyki, program romantyczny osłabiał deklaracjami racjonalistycznymi. W samym tłumaczeniu łagodził i usuwał bluźniercze fragmenty, używając parafraz i eufemizmów, aby pozbawić demoniczną postać niemieckiego Fausta jego protestanckiej, szatańskiej pychy. Recenzja z 1830 roku, cytowana przez Zofię Ciechanowską, dobrze rokowała na przyszłe dokonania „początkującego” tłumacza. Prywatne życie Lubomirskiego zakończyło się przedwcześnie w 1823 roku w wyniku pojedynku sprowokowanego błahym powodem. Jego ostatnia wola zaowocowała znacznymi darowiznami, które umożliwiły utworzenie Instytutu Oftalmicznego – szpitala okulistycznego dla ubogich, działającego do 1944 roku. W kulturze polskiej przetrwała pamięć o skandalu, wzorowym właścicielu dóbr (Radzymin) i hojnym filantropie, natomiast jego dorobek literacki uległ niemal całkowitemu zapomnieniu. Edycja ta, wsparta przez program "Regionalna Inicjatywa Doskonałości", ma to zmienić.

The Sejm of the Republic of Poland proclaimed 2022 the Year of Polish Romanticism to commemorate the 200th anniversary of publication of Poems by Adam Mickiewicz: Volume One (Wilno 1822). Prof. Jarosław Ławski from the University of Białystok supported by Collegium Columbium Publishers supervised by Prof. Wacław Walecki initiated the project aimed to publish 4 volumes of Collected Works by prince Edward Lubomirski (1796–1823), a writer active at the turn of the Enlightenment and Romantic eras. Lubomirski published three works during his lifetime: a Polish translation of Faust (1815) by A. E. F. Klingemann (1777–1831), issued in Warsaw in 1819 with an extensive Introduction representing the first Polish programme of national Romantic literature, inspired by the German and English models; then a “lyric poem” Graves on the Death Day of Tadeusz Kościuszko. Knight Epics Part 1 (Warsaw 1821) and A Historical-Statistical Description of Vienna (Warsaw 1821), written in Vienna in 1815 during the Congress of Vienna. His Historical and Statistical Sketch of England was published posthumously by his friend, count Edward Raczyński (Poznań 1829). Prince Edward Lubomirski certainly deserved his title of the first Polish Romantic. Unfortunately, although he preceded Mickiewicz’s Vilnian origins of Polish Romanticism, his tragic death and the associated scandal overshadowed his work, consigning it to oblivion. It was not until 2013 that Faust by Klingemann was reissued in Białystok as part of the Scientific Publishing Series “Black Romanticism” in the prince’s Polish translation accompanied by the German original and a scientific commentary. His other works were never reissued until now. The principal reason was the prince’s biography. He was born in the Lubomirskis’ Ukrainian estate in Dubno. His father, general Michał (1752–1809) was considered supporter of the Targowica Confederation and Russia, and both the king of Poland and future generations had very little sympathy for him. Magdalena née Raczyńska (1867–1845) was a pious, loving and unhappy mother. She earlier experienced deaths of her two sons: Marceli (1792–1809) died on a barricade when attacking Austrian troops in 1809, and Kazimierz (1784–1812) contracted typhoid and died when organizing field hospitals in 1812. Edward was educated in Vienna, where immediately after graduation he joined Russian diplomatic service of Alexander I. This gave him the opportunity to take an insider look on political bargains at the Congress of Vienna, and then to work in Berlin and London missions. He surely also knew Prague, Petersburg and Paris. He terminated his diplomatic career in 1820 to settle in his family estate in Radzymin near Warsaw where he managed a model farm and engaged in literary work. He was also an art collector. During a carnival ball on 15 January 1823 he was challenged to a duel for a trivial reason (he denied second lieutenant Ignacy Grocholski’s “excuse me” aimed to supersede him as a dance partner). He did not want to kill his adversary and aimed at earth, but Grocholski shot him. Lubomirski died on 26 February 1823 after weeks of anguish. Before his death, he dictated a letter-testament to count Edward Raczyński, requesting not only publication of his works, but also making substantial donations to charitable causes. They were used to establish the Ophthalmic Institute, i.e. an eye hospital for the poor, open until its destruction by Germans in 1944. Polish culture preserved the memory of scandalous duel and of the prince as a model estate owner from Radzymin, and principally a generous benefactor of the poor, founder of the eye hospital. His literary works were almost completely forgotten. The publication of 4 volumes of his Collected Works is aimed to revive the work and figure of Lubomirski in the history of literature. Faust by Klingemann (1815, premiered in Vienna in 1818) enjoyed massive popularity on German-language scenes until the mid-19th century, although it was also ridiculed as a bombastic play excessively filled with Gothic motifs, and intended for an uncultured audience. Interestingly, in 1984 Klingemann who had a poor reputation among researchers appeared to be, without a shadow of doubt, Bonaventura, the author of Nightwatches (Nachtwachen von Bonaventura, Penig 1804), a masterpiece of German Romanticism, described as anonymous until that time. Lubomirski saw in Faust an exemplary play that might inspire Polish writers who continued to follow Classicist rules termed by the prince “a copy of a copy”, a French copy of classical antiquity, slavishly imitated by Polish authors. To prevent attacks from critics, he presented his programme with certain qualifications, declaring his belief in rationalism and contempt for prejudice. Still, the vision painted by the playwright was shocking. This motivated the Polish translator to temper or remove outrageous blasphemous fragments of the play, and to use in its certain sections (especially in its initial and final scenes) paraphrases and euphemisms, depriving the demonic personality of German Protestant Faust of his satanic pride. The publication of Faust in Polish was not completely ignored, as it was once assumed. Zofia Ciechanowska cited in 1923 an anonymous reviewer who evaluated the translation in “Tygodnik Polski” (1830, vol. 1, p. 293–316), concluding: “The translation, initially not quite elegant in its style, gains in beauty scene by scene, and if the translator, who describes himself as a beginner, makes similar progress in his future productions, Polish literature can have grand expectations for his work”. The Collected Works of Edward Lubomirski are published with support from the project conducted by the Ministry of Education and Science, named “Regional Initiative of Excellence”, implemented in the disciplines of literary theory and linguistics at the Faculty of Philology, University of Białystok.