Teofil Lenartowicz's and Helena Mickiewiczówna's Correspondence

Abstract

The paper is an introduction to the edition of Teofil Lenartowicz's and Helena Mickiewiczówna's unknown letters, which are about to be published. The main collection of that correspondence is at the Polish Library in Paris; some individual elements may be found in various archives and libraries, and part of them has been lost. The correspondence started in 1885 and lasted until 1893, till the death of Teofil Lenartowicz. The addressees are on the one hand the granddaughter of Adam Mickiewicz, and on the other, a poet, sculptor, and speaker of Bologna university, formerly a popular exponent of the second generation of Polish romantics, called "Masovian Lyre Player." The letters express the emotional atmosphere and the lot of the addressees, and at the same time draw out a broader map of the situation of the Polish nation in Europe, a Europe preparing for some sudden events.