Rys statystyczny i polityczny Anglii

Abstract

Czterotomowa edycja krytyczna "Pism zebranych" księcia Edwarda Lubomirskiego (1796–1823), pod redakcją prof. Jarosława Ławskiego (Kraków–Białystok 2022), jest częścią obchodów Roku Romantyzmu Polskiego i ma na celu przypomnienie sylwetki oraz dorobku jednego z prekursorów wczesnego romantyzmu w Polsce. Pamięć o Lubomirskim, autorze m.in. programowego Wstępu do przekładu Fausta Klingemanna, została przyćmiona przez jego tragiczny zgon w pojedynku w 1823 roku oraz skandal obyczajowy.

Czwarty tom edycji prezentuje pośmiertne dzieło Lubomirskiego: "Rys historyczny i statystyczny Anglii" (Poznań 1829), wydane staraniem przyjaciela, Edwarda Raczyńskiego, na prośbę zawartą w liście-testamencie podyktowanym in articulo mortis. Rys Anglii jest pracą nieukończoną, ale niemal kompletną, prawdopodobnie związaną z misją dyplomatyczną Lubomirskiego w Londynie i jego anglofilskim nastawieniem.

W przeciwieństwie do wcześniejszego, bardziej żywego "Opisu historyczno-statystycznego Wiednia", Rys Anglii jest utworem rzeczywiście "historycznym" i "statystycznym", opartym na angielskich źródłach (co potwierdza prof. Grzegorz Moroz). Język, styl i struktura tekstu zdradzają autora jako spadkobiercę Oświecenia, ceniącego racjonalizm i ideał postępu. Narracja jest rzeczowa i beznamiętna.

Redaktorzy publikacji sugerują, że "Rys Anglii" należy" interpretować jako literaturę polityczną, której celem jest wskazanie Polakom – żyjącym w warunkach polsko-porewolucyjnych po Kongresie Wiedeńskim – modelu cywilizacyjno-historycznego rozwoju, który warto adoptować. Oszczędny, rzeczowy ton narracji jest celowym kamuflażem, mającym uprzedzać ewentualne zastrzeżenia cenzury rosyjskiej. Świadome pomijanie komentarza autorskiego staje się znaczącym gestem pisarza, który przyjął zasadę, że aby "powiedzieć więcej", należy powstrzymać się od "powiedzenia wszystkiego".

Publikacja Pism zebranych została wsparta ze środków programu "Regionalna Inicjatywa Doskonałości" MNiSW.

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 Columbinum 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 E. A. 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. The last work by prince Lubomirski (1796–1823), published in 1829 in Poznań thanks to efforts made by count Edward Raczyński, now issued as volume 4 of his Collected Works, is titled A Historical and Statistical Sketch of England (a posthumous work), Poznań, printed by W. Decker and Company, 1829, p. 396. When writing his letter-testament in articulo mortis to count Raczyński, his relation and most sincere friend, prince Lubomirski requested him in that last will to publish prince’s works. This project included publication of the last work by Lubomirski, the Sketch of England. Its fragments were initially published in a travel magazine “Kolumb” (1829), and finally the entire work was issued in 1829. This is an unfinished but almost complete work. A work that was also commented as “less amusing” to a reader (G. J., Lives of Eminent People, vol. 2, by K. W. Wójcicki). The circumstances of origin of the work are unknown, they are probably related to the diplomatic mission in London, the reading of works by English historians, and the generally Anglophile attitude of the prince. Unlike the lively Description of Vienna, the Sketch of England is truly “historical” and “statistical”, based on English sources, on which the author draws intensely, as demonstrated in the preface by Prof. Grzegorz Moroz, a researcher into Eng-lish-language travel literature. The style, language, organization of discourse – all these features reveal Lubomirski as a successor of the Age of Enlightenment with its rationalism and ideal of progress. It is factual, dispassionate, and speaks for itself. But in my opinion, the work is also an example of political literature. It aims to makes aware the Poles, living under the conditions prevailing after the Congress of Vienna, of a civilization-cultural-historical development model whose elements they should adopt. The terse, plain tone of narration appears then as a camouflage anticipating objections that might be raised by Russian censorship. The omission of author’s commentary becomes the most meaningful gesture of the writer who already knows that the best way of telling more is to refrain from telling everything. 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.