Letters of Anna Radziwiłł, born Mycielska and Charles de Saint-Pol’s diary as sources for examining the Vilnius socialite’s “diplomatic” activity

In the following paper the authors decided to discuss the „diplomatic” correspondence of the Anna Radziwiłłowa (de domo Mycielska) and the diary of the baron Charles de Saint-Pol, which are nowadays in the repertory of the Central Archives of Historical Records in Warsaw, touching the matter of the action took by the second wife of the Michał Kazimierz Radziwiłł „Rybeńko” in the case of his son „Panie Kochanku” (Karol Stanisław Radziwiłł) in the 1764.

Dopisy Anny z Mycielských Radziwiłłové a deník Charlesa de Saint-Pola jako pramen pro výzkum „diplomatické” činnosti manželky vilenského vojvody

WROCŁAW IN MUSIC AND LETTERS OF NICCOLÒ PAGANINI

The life and works of Niccolò Paganini, a Genoese violinist, are the subject of many texts and articles. Despite the discovery of his letters and the existence of his numerous biographies, often divergent in content, from which I will try to reveal and compare more accurate and reliable information, there are many unclear issues concerning various episodes of his life. These doubts concern his stay in Wrocław, an episode of his life thought of as secondary in relation to many others, but in which many important events took place, events allowing for enrichment of his biography and getting to better know the personality of the Genoese master. The article offers an analysis of the master’s stay in Wrocław, comparing his more reliable biographies, extracting information from his personal letters, which are a valuable literary source, and not forgetting the art for which he lived, music.

In the rich prose of Tomasz Kajetan Węgierski (1755-1787), a talented poet and satirist, a special place is occupied by a French-language diary. This diary was in the form of letters written during a journey around Italy in 1779. His recipient was a certain Julia, a friend and lover of the poet living in Paris. His letters survived in the Manuscript Section of the Jagiellonian Library in Krakow, though, unfortunately, as an incomplete copy only: just seven letters, written in November and December from Verona, Vicenza, Padua, and Venice, have been preserved entirely. We also have the beginning of an eighth letter, written from Venice. Furthermore, we have the poet’s comments on several missing letters, four of which refer to the city on the lagoon and one to Ferrara. There is also a fragment of a letter from Rome devoted to the catacombs. From its content, we learn that the poet intended to return to the city of St. Mark to see the wedding ceremony of the Venetian Republic with the sea. The aim of this article is to present the motivations that prompted the poet to leave the PolishLithuanian Commonwealth, as well as to analyse his impressions from his trip around Veneto. It is worth noting that this region was only a stage, though a very important one, on the poet’s route leading to the capital of the Papal States. This Italian region fascinated, surprised, and shocked the Pole, and in his notes, which are full of anecdotes and jokes, we find extensive descriptions of the history and culture of Verona, Vicenza, Padua, and Venice. Also included are more-detailed characteristics of the inhabitants and their customs, as well as all kinds of information about everyday life on the road. Węgierski’s narrative, though different in many respects from the travel descriptions of his predecessors, is quite typical of the century in which he lived.

The purpose of the article is to describe the model and method of management of the Literary Institute and “Kultura” by Jerzy Giedroyc using the categories of circles, networks, and relations, verifying in this way the editor’s legend. The analysis covered the entire period of the Institute’s operation (1946-2000), comparing the internal periodization of the activity with the changes of the authors in the “Kultura” circle, which made it possible to distinguish between the friendly and home circle and three authors’ circles. The diaries, biographies, and letters provided the grounds to emphasize the significance of the network for building the position of “Kultura” as an opinion-forming magazine and a place of help for emigrant writers. Managing “Kultura” is presented, which is focused on creating relations and being objective. Synthesis, content analysis, and comparative methods have been used. This problem has not been discussed so far in the extensive literature on the subject.

Letters of Academician Alexander Samoylovich to Professor Tadeusz Kowalski

Professor Tadeusz Kowalski (1889–1948) corresponded with scholars from practically all over the world. He was interested in the developments of Oriental studies in the Soviet Union. He valued the publications he received from the USSR, as well as all contacts he had with Russian researchers. He sought to cooperate with Alexander Samoylovich (1880–1938) – one of the most eminent Turkologists in the Soviet Union. This goal had been partially achieved. The archives of the Polish Academy of Sciences and the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences in Kraków now hold, catalogued under ref. No. KII-4, j. 174, just three letters from the Russian Turkologist. Despite their small number, these materials are an engrossing source of knowledge on the state of Soviet Turkish studies in the mid 1920s and the Soviet Oriental studies community. These letters are all the more precious – as the author managed to determine – as the branch of the archives at the Russian Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg, where the legacy of professor Samoylovich is kept, has no copies. It is interesting that there are no surviving copies of the letters from professor Kowalski to the Russian Turkologist. The article’s purpose is the edition of the letters of Alexander Nikolaevich Samojłowicz – a Soviet turkologist – to Professor Tadeusz Kowalski, including their translation into Polish. These documents constitute a certificate of international academic relations development between scientists from Poland and the Soviet Union in the interwar period.