Parisian Lectures of Norwid on Słowacki – A History of the Editions

Abstract

The author of the article outlines the history of the publication of six lectures by Cyprian Norwid dedicated to the work of Juliusz Słowacki, published under the title 'O dziełach i stanowisku poetycznym Juliusza Słowackiego w sprawie narodowej' [On the Works and Poetic Position of Juliusz Słowacki Regarding the National Question], which the poet gave in April and May 1860
in Paris (at the Polish Reading Room at 25 Passage du Commerce). The inspiration for organizing a cycle of open lectures focused on the work of a poet from the famous triad of bards was Norwid’s experience with Julian Klaczko’s course on the history of Polish literature (from its beginnings to 1831), held in 1858 at the Polish Historical and Literary Society in Paris. Klaczko was a well-regarded author of works on art history and literature at the time. Norwid took an openly polemical stance against Klaczko’s “school” of criticism, its aesthetic and artistic hierarchies, and its ideas on the role of national culture. In his lectures, Norwid presented a very different approach to Polish art and made an analysis of the most important poems of Słowacki ('Anhelli', 'Beniowski, 'Król-Duch' [The King-Spirit]). According to the conclusions of the author o the article, the foundation for the first edition of the “lesson on Słowacki” from 1861 was based on notes taken by three listeners of the lectures (Marian Sokołowski, Seweryn Elżanowski, Maria Bolewska). It was mainly Sokołowski, who later became a professor of art history at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, who devoted all his energy to the publication. It was he, in particular,
who, while preparing the texts for printing, inserted Norwid’s important article 'O „Balladynie”' [On “Balladyna”] into the brochure.