Mickevičiana
MICKEVIČIANA COLLECTION AT THE VILNIUS COUNTY ADOMAS MICKEVIČIUS PUBLIC LIBRARY: AN ANALYSIS
Purpose of the study – to determine how the Mickevičiana Collection at the Vilnius County Adomas Mickevičius Public Library was formed, and what kind of exceptional publications are held in the Collection.
Tasks of the study:
- to analyse the publications held in the Mickevičiana Collection in terms of themes and languages,
- to identify the exceptional publications held in the Mickevičiana Collection,
- to determine potential future directions for use of the Mickevičiana Collection.
Methods – statistical analysis of the Collection was performed considering the Collection’s documents in terms of themes, languages and the medium of storage. Research at the Collection allowed direct viewing of all documents held in the Collection and the finding of exceptional features of books: ex libris (bookplates), inscriptions and illustrations.
Adomas Mickevičius and his creative work
Adomas Bernardas Mickevičius, according to Vytautas Kubilius, “to the Poles, […] is a prophet of Poland’s independence and a symbol of Polishness. To the Lithuanians, he is a son of their land and their history, who pronounced the sacred words ‘Lietuva, mano tėvyne…’ (Lithuania, my homeland…). To the Belarusians, he is a portrayer of the landscapes and customs of the Navahrudak-Lida area, making use of colours akin to those of the local folklore”. All of these peoples, cultures and languages converge and coalesce in the creative work and in the biography of Mickevičius. His work is categorised as Romantic literature. The term Romanticism is connected with the Spanish words romance and roman, in the Middle Ages meaning a lyrical song, a creative work about knights’ adventures. In the 18th century, such terms took on new meanings more closely related to those of modern usage: “extraordinary, mysterious, fantastic“. Romanticism in the creative work of Mickevičius is surrender to the imagination, glorification of the ideas of the people’s past, transposition of natural landscapes to a creative work. “The Romantic person is as infinite and mysterious as nature itself”, declared Kubilius. This idea wonderfully illustrates both the creative work and the biography of Mickevičius.
The poet was born on 24 December 1798 in Zavosse, 40 km from Navahrudak. According to Kubilius, the Navahrudak area had long been ethnically Lithuanian, where Lithuanian had been spoken since the 13th century. The Lithuanian language was overtaken in the area by Slavic languages, yet Lithuanian culture remained in folk songs, traditional wayside crosses and the distinctive mentality of the people of that area. For Mickevičius, his mother tongue was Polish, but he was also accustomed to hearing Belarusian. In his childhood, Mickevičius listened to Belarusian fairy tales and folk songs, and he heard Lithuanian as well.
His mother, Barbora Majevskaja, was a steward’s daughter, and his father, Mikalojus Mickevičius, was the surveyor of Minsk, who worked as an attorney in the Navahrudak court, participated in the Kościuszko Uprising of 1794 and was an officer. According to Kubilius, the father earned the rank of Rittmeister, belonged to a class of minor nobles within the szlachta and considered himself a citizen of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Although after the Third Partition in 1795 the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth ceased to exist, in the parish of Radun’ from which the Mickevičius family traced its roots, the Statute of Lithuania remained in force, the local assembly of nobles continued to gather, the idea of restoration of the state remained alive. In Navahrudak, the ruins of the castle remained visible, as did the hill-fort and other historical monuments left behind by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. All of this contributed to the formation of a separate self-consciousness, different from that of tsarist Russia. These childhood signs are clearly seen in the creative work of Mickevičius.
From 1807 to 1815, Mickevičius attended the Dominican school in Navahrudak. The school was placed under the supervision of Vilnius University, and instruction took place in accordance with principles laid down by the Commission for National Education. According to Czesław Miłosz, “Mickevičius was only an average pupil, but he actively participated in school games, theatre performances and moot court proceedings”. In 1815, Mickevičius finished his school learning, and at the age of 17 began to study at Vilnius University, at that time known as the Imperial University of Vilnius. In his first year, he studied in the Physics and Mathematics Faculty, and later transferred to the Teachers Seminary of the Literature and Liberal Arts Faculty, because only the Teachers Seminary prepared specialists at state expense. Mickevičius studied classical, Polish and Russian literature, history, logic, metaphysics, ethics and law, and studied English, French, German, Latin and Greek. Mickevičius himself said that he knew “eight European and several Eastern” languages.
The beginning of the 19th century was a period when many still remembered the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, but the tsarist Russian regime was already starting to dominate. It was a situation of constant conflict and contradiction, of “slogans of liberty of the people and annual speeches by the rector in honour of the Russian Emperor”. Nevertheless, the history of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Lithuanian people remained in folklore, so in his student years Mickevičius took a special interest in folk works and culture and in local folklore. The lectures of Joachim Lelewel made a great impression on the future poet. He was taught “to search in history for the character of the people and the reasons for the present situation”. His interest in the history of his country was also related to another, especially important event in his life: on 13 October 1817 Mickevičius, together with Józef Jeżowski, Onufry Pietraszkiewicz and Franciszek Malewski, founded the Filomaci (Philomath Society). Mickevičius, then 19 years of age, led the Philomath Society’s section on literature and moral sciences and wrote the Society’s hymn, the work “Ode to Youth”. According to Miłosz, it was “a Masonic song, inviting the listener ‘to push the planet’ to new orbits, to merge with the altruistic forces of love, to storm ‘the palaces of the future’ and to prepare to meet peoples’ freedom”. The Philomaths’ goal was to perform their duty to the homeland as well as possible: “the homeland is the great imperative, rising above individual existence, demanding sacrifice unto death itself”. The Philomaths sought “to improve themselves […], to raise the level of education of the entire country, to collect knowledge of agronomy and of countryside customs, to study history, to spread the idea of restoration of the state by means of secret gatherings”. The ideas of these societies, reflecting the spirit of the Romanticism of that time, drew their inspiration from the ideas of the enlightened educators of the 18th century; “people are born free and must be equal before the law”. According to Miłosz, “the Philomaths, as they called themselves, openly declared no political goals. They often gathered to read and discuss each other’s poems and other writings on various topics”. In the Philomaths’ gatherings, papers and discourses were read about peoples, relationships and equality. They “longed to reform countryside life, to develop industry, to spread and improve education”. This youth movement spread as far as Kražiai and Kėdainiai.
In 1818, “Zima miejska” (City Winter) became the first of his poems to be published. In 1819, Mickevičius finished his university studies and was assigned to work as a teacher at a school in Kaunas County. Mickevičius taught literature, history, poetics, rhetoric, grammar and political economy. A library was part of the school, and Mickevičius worked as the librarian, buying books and adding to the school library’s collection. He lived in the Town Hall Square, next to the Jesuit church. Life in Kaunas had an effect on the poet’s creative work. He read Schiller, Byron and Scott, and walked past the ruins of the Kaunas castle. In 1820, his mother passed away. In 1821, his beloved Maryla Wereszczakówna married Count L. Puttkamer. In 1821-1822, Mickevičius returned for a short time to Vilnius. On 14 September 1822, he again returned to Kaunas, working at the school. In Kaunas, he wrote the poetry cycle “Ballady i romanse” (Ballads and Romances), the poem “Grażyna”, parts II and IV of “Dziady” (Forefathers’ Eve), and published his second volume of poetry.
Even as he lived in Kaunas, Mickevičius continued to belong to the Philomath Society. But with the passage of time, the Society began to change, and by the beginning of the 1820s it was no longer just a group of naive youths talking about history. The Society began to join other, much more radical structures: the Carbonari, the independence-seeking Patriots’ Society, the Masons. Tsar Alexander I actively repressed all underground societies, so Mickevičius was arrested on 23 October 1823 for his involvement in the Philomaths’ activities. The poet was brought to Vilnius, and imprisoned in a cell at the Basilian monastery. Mickevičius, as a Jacobin, was interrogated in the former bishops’ residence by Senator Novosiltsev. With Professor Lelewel vouching for him, Mickevičius was released from prison on bail on 21 April 1824. On 22 October 1824, Mickevičius prayed for the last time to the Mother of God at the chapel of the Gate of Dawn, and on 25 October departed Kaunas for Saint Petersburg, because he was forbidden to live in the western governorates.
In Saint Petersburg, Mickevičius became acquainted with the Decembrists. The Philomaths kept in contact with similar organisations, so Mickevičius was accepted as “one of us”. According to Miłosz, Mickevičius was quite an attractive personality to the Russian intellectuals of that time: “he was without affectation, a person of good intellectual education, gifted with the ability to improvise”. In the winter of 1824-1825, Mickevičius moved to Odessa, crossing the country by postal sled, to work in a lyceum. At that time, Odessa was “a variegated port, a centre of the grain trade with a multi-ethnic colony, an Italian opera, balls and society gatherings”. The poet travelled around the Crimea. In Moscow, he met Alexander Pushkin. In 1826, he published the tome of lyrics “Sonety”, 22 love sonnets and 18 Crimean sonnets. In 1829, Mickevičius managed to get a travel passport. On 29 May 1829, he left Kronstadt by ship for Hamburg. In Berlin, he attended Hegel’s lectures. At the Weimar Palace, he met Goethe. Later, he travelled through the Alps to Rome.
The November Uprising, having begun in Warsaw in 1830, provoked military actions that continued into 1831. The uprising had an especially great effect on Mickevičius. He vacillated between his desire to return to his homeland and become directly involved in military action, between the possibility of encouraging the French to support the uprising and simply awaiting the outcome. Mickevičius, at that time living in Italy, travelled to France, and there, according to Miłosz, “became greatly disappointed with French politicians, went through Germany to the Prussian-occupied part of Poland adjacent to the border guarded by the Russian military”. But the war was already lost. So Mickevičius ended up in Dresden, where at that time there were very many Polish refugees. After the uprising, there began the phenomenon that came to be known as “the Great Emigration”. A majority of Poland’s intellectuals, officers and soldiers fled to Germany and France. Mickevičius actively participated in the Polish emigrants’ political activities.
In 1832, he took up residence in Paris, publishing “Księgi narodu polskiego i pielgrzymstwa polskiego” (Books of the Polish Nation and the Polish Pilgrimage). In the work, he sought to justify the Polish people’s mission as martyrdom, to free and redeem humanity: “Poland is destined to ransom the peoples with its suffering, and the call of Polish pilgrims is to proclaim to the materialistic peoples of the West a new, spiritually reborn world”. From 1832 to 1834, Mickevičius wrote a great deal, and edited the newspaper “Pielgrzym Polski”. In 1839, Mickevičius left for Switzerland. At the Lausanne Academy, Mickevičius taught Latin and literature, and while there wrote “Liryki lozańskie” (Lausanne Lyrics), “untranslatable masterpieces of metaphysical meditation”. In 1840, he was invited by the French Minister of Education to head the department of Slavic literature at Collège National. He worked there until 1844. At the same time, he actively participated in the religious sect of Andrzej Towiański. Because Mickevičius began to spread religious ideas at the university as well, he was removed from his lecturer’s duties. Having written “Pan Tadeusz”, Mickevičius, according to Miłosz, “was overcome by the need to change history directly, and poetry did not seem to be a sufficiently powerful instrument; it lost the battle against reality”. In 1848, the phenomenon known as the Spring of Nations began throughout Europe, and again the idea of Polish and Lithuanian rebirth was in the air. Mickevičius left for Italy to assemble a Polish legion from artists and intellectuals. This legion was to fight for the Italians against the Austrians in Lombardy, later the legion together with Garibaldi defended Rome. Mickevičius published the legion’s principles, its political manifesto, “on which the future independent Slavic states will be based”. In 1849, in Paris, Mickevičius established the international socialist newspaper “La tribune des Peuples”. The publication operated unlawfully and censorship destroyed it. The European revolutionary movements collapsed, and that in turn caused general disappointment and hopelessness.
In 1852, Mickevičius became a librarian at the Bibliothèque de l’Arsenal in Paris. In 1855, the Crimean War broke out, in which Turkey, having formed an alliance with France and England, fought against tsarist Russia. Legions were formed in Istanbul from Russian prisoners of Polish origin. On 11 September 1855, Mickevičius left for Istanbul, where, together with Armand Lévy, he put together a Jewish legion. He contracted cholera and died on 26 November 1855 at the age of 57. In 1890, his remains were reinterred next to the Jagiellonians in the Wawel Cathedral in Krakow.
ANALYSIS OF THE MICKEVIČIANA COLLECTION
60 years ago (in 1955), the Vilnius County Adomas Mickevičius Public Library was given the name of Adomas Mickevičius. The naming also marked a new period in the formation of the library’s collections; the Mickevičiana Collection was begun at the library, including various editions of his creative works, works about the poet and bibliographic indices.
Size of the Collection. At present, the Mickevičiana Collection is composed of 660 titles, with 1,003 pieces. The publications were obtained by means of exchanges as well as donations, some were purchased, and several publications were received as copies that are simply required to have.
The Collection’s linguistic variety. Mickevičius wrote his creative works in Polish, which had become the language of the nobility, priests and educated society of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and from the end of the 17th century, the state or chancellery language. For this reason, most of the works in the Mickevičiana Collection (495 titles, 662 pieces) are in Polish. That composes 66% of the entire Collection. The works of Mickevičius were first translated into Lithuanian only at the very end of the 19th century. The Mickevičiana Collection includes 79 titles (159 pieces) in Lithuanian. That composes 15.6% of the entire Collection. Another significant part of the Collection, 55 titles in 87 pieces, 8.7%, are in Russian. The remainder of the Collection is composed of works translated into German (4 titles, 60 pieces, 6%), French (11 titles, 12 pieces, 1.2%), English (5 titles, 5 pieces, 0.05%) and other languages (13 titles, 18 pieces, 2%).
Table 1. Linguistic distribution of the Collection | ||
Language | Titles | Pieces |
Lithuanian | 79 | 159 |
Russian | 55 | 87 |
Polish | 495 | 662 |
English | 5 | 5 |
German | 4 | 60 |
French | 11 | 12 |
Other | 13 | 18 |
Types and media of documents. Almost all of the Mickevičiana Collection (982 pieces, 98%) is composed of books. The remaining 2% of the documents are serial (8 pieces), audio (6 pieces), visual (3 pieces), music scores and notes (3 pieces) and electronic (1 piece). 999 pieces (99.6%) are held in analogue media, 4 pieces (0.04%) are held as digital (audio).
Thematic composition of the Collection. The Mickevičiana Collection includes not only original works by Mickevičius, but also the works of other authors, in various ways related to the creative work of Mickevičius. The Mickevičiana Collection is organised according to the Universal Decimal Classification system. The lion’s share of the Collection (830 pieces, 569 titles, 83%) is composed of 82-89 Literature. Another significant part of the Collection (143 pieces, 70 titles, 14%) is composed of 8 Linguistics and Literary Criticism. 18 pieces, 11 titles, 1.8% is in 0 (Knowledge). Another part of the Collection is composed of 3 Social Sciences (2 pieces, 2 titles, 0.2%), 7 Arts, Entertainment, Sport (8 pieces, 7 titles, 0.8%), 9 Geography, Biography, History (2 pieces, 1 title, 0.2%).
Table 2. Thematic composition of the Collection | ||
UDC classes | Titles | Pieces |
0 Knowledge | 11 | 18 |
3 Social Sciences | 2 | 2 |
7 Arts, Entertainment, Sport | 7 | 8 |
8 Linguistics, Literary Criticism | 70 | 143 |
82-89 Literature | 569 | 830 |
9 Geography, Biography, History | 1 | 2 |
0 Knowledge, 3 Social Sciences and 7 Arts, Entertainment, Sport – Part of the Mickevičiana Collection, which is composed of publications on non-literary topics, including bibliographies, publications about the history of the Philomaths and the Filarets, exhibition brochures, material about the A. Mickevičius Museum, bibliographic indices. These publications are written in Lithuanian, Russian, Polish and English.
The oldest publication in this part of the Collection is a bibliography published in 1924, Ludwik Stolarzewicz, Bibljografja mickiewiczowska, Wilno: L. Chomiński, 1924, VII, [3], 247, [1] p.
8 Linguistics and Literary Criticism. This is criticism of various works by Mickevičius. The oldest publications in this part of the Collection:
- Stefan Gebarski, Czcijmy pamięć Juliusza Słowackiego: obrazy z życia wielkiego poety/ Stefan Gębarski. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Red. “Przyjaciela Dzieci”, 1909.
- Published in 1922, Księgi narodu polskiego i pielgrzymstwa polskiego/ Adam Mickiewicz; opracował Stanisław Pigoń. Kraków: Nakładem Krakowskiej Spółki Wydawniczej, 1922. The edition is decorated with a bookplate – Ex. Libris Coll. Vilnens. Soc. Jesu. – on the title page.
- With a bookplate – Ex. Libris Coll. Vilnens. Soc. Jesu. – and another publication Trybuna Ludów/ Adam Mickiewicz; wstęp i komentarz Emila Haeckera; [1923]. Kraków: nakładem Krakowskiej Spółki Wydawniczej, 1923
- Giaur: ułamki powieści tureckiej/ Jerzy Gordon lord Byron; tłumaczył Adam Mickiewicz; [tekst opracował na podstawie wydania z r. 1838, 1814 Wilhelm Bruchnalski] Warszawa: Instytut Wydawniczy “Bibljoteka Polska”, [1924]. An introduction for this work was written by Mickevičius in Paris in 1835.
- Jie – jums: įvairių rašytojų kūriniai deklamuoti ir skaityti / edited by Petras Babickas; illustrated by Petras Rimša. Kaunas: Minjatiūra, 1929 (Kaunas: P. Sokolovskienės ir G. Lano sp. On the title page of the publication, a dedication by an unknown individual is written – Prisiminimui nuo pažįstamų laikų dėl atminties [Lionu]. 1945-III-21, Biržai.
82-89 Literature. The Literature section of the Mickevičiana Collection is divided into several smaller parts. The first consists of full sets of the writings of Adomas Mickevičius, 35 copies only in Polish. There are 16 volumes of Dzieła wszystkie/ Adam Mickiewicz; zebrane i opracowane staraniem komitetu redakcyjnego. Warszawa: Skarb Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej, 1933-1936 (Warszawa: Tłocznia Kasy im. Mianowskiego) 16 t.
Another part consists of incomplete sets of writings. They consist of 76 copies, in Polish. In this part of the Collection, there is also the very oldest publication: three years after the poet’s death (1858) was published Pisma Adama Mickiewicza/ Adam Mickiewicz. Wyd. nowe, znacznie powiększone. Warszawa: Nakładem S.H. Merzbacha; Poznań: Nakładem S.H. Merzbacha, 1858 ([Warszawa]: w drukarni J. Jaworskiego) 8 t. (4 kn.). The Collection includes incomplete sets of the writings of Mickevičius in Russian. In 1902 was published Собрание сочинений Адама Мицкевича: в переводе русских писателей: в четырех томах: с биографией и портретом Ад. Мицкевича/ Адам Мицкевич ; под редакцией П.Н. Полевого Изд. 2-е Санкт-Петербург: М.О. Вольф, 1902 4 t.: iliustr. T. 1-2 ir T. 3-4 bound in 2 books.
The poetry of Mickevičius is divided into separate topics and languages classified according to different works.
- „Baladės ir romansai“. For the first time, this cycle of poetry was published in 1822. According to Miłosz, the appearance of this book begins the era of Romanticism in Poland. The works of Mickevičius were very popular among the lower classes of society, because the poetry became understandable to ordinary people. The rhythm of the works imitated folk works, and used many folklore motifs. The oldest publications of this work held in the Collection in Polish:
- Published in 1891, Ballady i romanse; Sonety; Sonety krymskie i pomniejsze poezye/ Adam Mickiewicz ; [z iliustracyami: E. M. Andriollego, C. Jankowskiego, S. Kaczor-Batowskiego; Juliusza Kossaka; J. Makarewicza; M. Młodnickiej; T. Popieła; I.P. Stachiewicza] Lwów: Nakład Księgarni H. Altenberga, 1891 (Kraków: Druk Wł. L. Anczyca i Społki, pod zarządem Jana Gadowskiego]) 245, [1] p., [10] iliustr. lap.: iliustr.
- 1921 m. Ballady i romanse/ Adam Mickiewicz; opracował Zbigniew Zaturski Lwów: Nakładem Społki wydawniczej “Vita”, [1921] ([Lwów]: drukarnia Knollera i Syna w Przemyślu).
- “Dziady”. According to Miłosz, it is “the most typical work of Polish Romantic theatre”. The logic of the dream is connected by fragments. The action is based on pagan rites “dziady”, during which the peasants of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania used to gather in chapels for the feasts of All Saints and All Souls, called on the dead and offered them food. The work is not a work written in order from beginning to end. Different parts were written at different times and in different countries. According to Miłosz, “it is an obvious reflection of eighteenth century Illuminism and Cabalism in a new Romantic form”. The work was first drawn into a theatre repertoire by Stanisław Wyspiański. It became “a peculiar sacred folk performance, occasionally forbidden by censors due to its emotional effect on the public”.
45 copies of the publication in Polish are held in the Mickevičiana Collection. The oldest and most distinctive:
- Dziady. [2], 415 p., [4] faks., [1] portr. lap.: iliustr., portr.
- With bookplate – Ex Libris Coll. Vilnens. Soc. Jesu. Dziady wileńskie/ Adam Mickiewicz; opracował Józef Kallenbach, Wyd. 2-ie. Kraków: nakładem Krakowskiej Spółki Wydawniczej, 1922 (w Krakowie: druk W.L. Anczyca i Spółki), XV, 127, [1] p.
- “Grażyna” and “Konrad Wallenrod”. There are 44 copies in Polish in the Mickevičiana Collection. The poem “Grażyna” was written in 1822. Mickevičius lived for a short time in Vilnius, in a flat in Bernardinų skg., where the A. Mickevičius Museum is located in the present day. The poem “Konrad Wallenrod” was published in Saint Petersburg in 1828.
- The oldest is an edition published in Krakow in 1890, „Graźyna; Konrad Wallenrod: dwa poematy/ Adama Mickiewicza; z 12-ma illustracyami kompozycyi Juliusza Kossaka“ We Lwówe: nakładem H. Altenberga (druk Wł. L. Anczycz i Społki, pod zarządem Jana Gadowskiego), 1890.
- “Pan Tadeusz”. In 1834, the work was printed in Paris. According to Kubilius, the work was “a real encyclopedia of the historical self-consciousness, household life and culture of the nobility of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, a lyrical requiem to a disappearing structure”. As Miłosz said, “to portray the countryside microcosm was indeed an attractive activity for an exile in Paris, looking for consolation ‘in memories of days gone by’ ”. The largest number of a single title in the Mickevičiana Collection is this work. There are 64 copies, of 51 editions, in Polish. The more exceptional publications include:
- 1898, adorned with plentiful illustrations, Pan Tadeusz, czyli Ostatni zajazd na Litwie/ Adam Mickiewicz; z 12 kartonami i 12 rysunkami specyalnie przygotowanemi dla tej edycyi przez Kazimierza Alchimowicza. Warszawa: Redakcja “Przeglądu Tygodniowego”, 1898 [i.e. 1899] (Warszawa: druk P. Laskauera & W. Babickiego) [2], IV, 295 p., [12] iliustr. lap.: iliustr.
- 1900 edition in Paris, in Polish. Pan Tadeusz: historya szlachecka z roku 1811 i 1812 we dwunastu księgach wierszem/ Adam Mickiewicz Paris: Skład główny: Księgarnia Polska w Paryźu, [1900] Paris: Imprimerie Centrale Commerciale).
- Pan Tadeusz: historia szlachecka z r. 1811 i 1812 we dwunastu księgach wierszem. Warszawa: Nakład Gebethnera i Wolffa, 1901 (Kraków : druk. W.L. Anczyca i Spólki) 431 p., [1] portr. lap. ; 11 cm.
- Audio edition: Pan Tadeusz, czyli, Ostatni zajazd na Litwie
: historia szlachecka z roku 1811 i 1812: we dwunastu księgach wierszem: zapis 14-godzinnego spektaklu “Maraton z Panem Tadeuszem”/ Adam Mickiewicz; prowadzenie Renata Gorczyńska i Krzysztof Lipka; [wykonują: recytatorzy], Wiesław Grochowski, solo na rogu. WarszawaWydawnictwa Szkolne i Pedagogiczne: Polskie Radio Spółka Akcyjna: Polskie Radio BIS, ©1998. Box of 12 disks (72 min. 14 sec., 55 min. 47 sec., 60 min. 42 sec., 60 min. 19 sec., 65 min. 49 sec., 44 min. 39 sec., 44 min. 19 sec., 55 min. 07 sec., 49 min. 12 sec., 69 min. 12 sec., 50 min. 07 sec., 74 min. 02 sec.): [stereo], digital (DDD) + brochure (36, [4] p., including cover: portr., illustr.) with commentary. To commemorate the 200th anniversary of the birth of Adomas Mickevičius. Performed and with comments in Polish.
Another part of the Collection is composed of translations of the work of Mickevičius into Lithuanian. There are 74 copies of Lithuanian-language works in the Mickevičiana Collection.
The oldest publications:
- Vertimai iš Mickevycziaus / [lietuviškai sutaisė] Jr. Jonas [Jonas Žilius] Plymouth. Pa.: Spaustuvėj “S.L.A.”, 1899-[1900] 2 t.
- Iš Adomo Mickevičiaus raštų/ Adomas Mickevičius; mokykloms parinko M. Biržiška. Vilnius: Lietuvos mokslo draugija, 1919 (Vilnius: “Žaibo” spaustuvė).
- Iš Adomo Mickevičiaus raštų/ vertimus mokykloms parinko ir patvarkė M. Biržiška. 2-as paveiksl. leid. Kaunas: “Vairo” b-vė, 1927 (Š. Neimano sp.)
- Lietuviškas šiupinys, iš svetimų skanskonių brolių-lietuvių naudai pataisytas. Kn. 2. Konradas Valenrodas, antrą kartą atspauzdintas, šiek – tiek pertaisytas ir užbaigtas./ Martyno Kuktis spaustuvė, Vilnius, 1910.
- Krymo sonetai, lietuvių ir lenkų kalbom./ Vertė ir išaiškino M. Gustaitis. Juozapo Zavadskio spaustuvė Vilniuje. 1909. Su įrašu Gražutei – Mylinti mama. M. Šlapelienė. Knyga skirta J. S. D-rui Jonui Basanavičiui, “Aušros” ir “Lietuvių mokslo draugijos” įsteigėjui šitą veikalėlį skiria M G.
- 1924 m. Jaunimo biblioteka. Spausdinta Otto r. Mauderodės spaustuvėje Tilžėje. Adomas Mickevičius. Ponas Tadas arba paskutinis užpuolimas Lietuvoje. I tomas, vertė A. Valaitis. “švyturio” bendrovės leidinys, Kaunas.
- Vėlinės : [dramatinės poemos 3-ioji dalis]/ parašė A. Mickevičius; vertė Varpas Tilžėje: išleido kuopelė Vinco Kudirkos atminčiai, 1900 (Tilžėje: spausdinta pas J. Schoenkę). Su įrašu pasveikinimui dienos 24 gruodžio 1898 m.
The Mickevičiana Collection includes translations of the poet’s works into other languages.
- French: Konrad Wallenrod/ poème polonais d’Adam Mickiewicz; traduit en vers français par Venceslas Gasztowtt Paris: Calmann Lévy, 1889 XI, 104 p.
- Danish: Pan Tadeusz, eller Den sidste adelsfejde i Litwa/ Adam Mickiewicz; paa dansk ved Valdemar Rørdam København: Det Danske Selskab, 1958 349, [2] p.: illustr. With an inscription – to the Mickevičius library from the Institute of Danish Culture.
- Esperanto: Sinjoro Tadeo (aŭ la lasta armita posedopreno en Litvo): [nobelara historio de la jaroj 1811 kaj 1812 en dekdu libroj verse]/ Adam Mickiewicz; esperanta traduko de Antoni Grabowski; [ilustraĵoj: David D’Angers, C. K. Norwid, E. M. Andriolli] 2-a eld. Varsovio: Polonia, 1955 333, [1] p., [10] iliustr. lap.: iliustr., portr.
The Collection also includes sketches, essays and conversations about Mickevičius: Księgi pielgrzymstwa polskiego / Adam Mickiewicz Warszawa : [s.n.], 1906 60 p. Letters of Mickevičius, collections of his works. There is criticism of the poet’s works written during the interwar period:
- Augustaitis, Pranas. Lietuvybės elementai lenkų romantizme: leidinys lietuvių kalba Vilnius: “Vilniečio” leidinys, 1921.
- Zobarskas, Stepas. Narsioji kunigaikštienė: Ad. Mickevičiaus “Gražinos” poemos metmenys; Ad. Mickevičiaus kūrybos apibūdinimas ir jo parinktieji poezijos vertimai. Kaunas: “Pažangos” b-vė, 1931 (Kaunas: “Šviesos” sp. 63, [1] p.
- Janulaitis, Augustinas. Adomas Mickevyčia (1798-1855): jo gyvenimas, raštai ir darbai/ aprašė A.J. Daubaras, Plymouth (Pa): Spauda ir kaštai “Vienybės Lietuvninkų”, 1902.
CONCLUSIONS
- The Mickevičiana Collection in the Vilnius County Adomas Mickevičius Public Library has been formed since 1955. 83% of the Collection consists of the works of Mickevičius and translations of the works. 98% of all media are books.
- The oldest publication in the Collection was published in 1828, Konrad Wallenrod: powieść historyczna z dziejów litewskich i pruskich/ przez Adama Mickiewicza Petersburg : Druk. K. Kraya, 1828 VIII, 96 p., [3] iliustr. lap.
- A significant number of single-run publications have been collected, and these could be used for exchanges to renew the Collection. To increase the historical value of the Mickevičiana Collection, it would be especially useful to obtain publications from the middle of the 19th century and of the first editions of the works of Adomas Mickevičius. The Collection’s academic and research value would be increased by academic publications, including criticism of the works of Mickevičius and historical 19th century studies. The Collection could also be expanded by devoting more attention to electronic documents.
- The Mickevičiana Collection is especially useful to historians, philologists and researchers of 19th century literature. The publications in the Collection may be used in more varied ways to make the creative work of Mickevičius more popular among the broader public.
REFERENCE LIST
- Adomas Mickevičius ir Lietuva. Vilnius, 1998, p. 48. ISBN 9986-861-85-3
- JASTRŪNAS, Mečislovas. Adomas Mickevičius. Poeto laikas ir asmenybė. Vilnius, 1994, p. 511. ISBN 9986-408-21-0
- KUBILIUS, Vytautas. Adomas Mickevičius. Poetas ir Lietuva. Vilnius, 1998. 66 [5] p. ISBN 9986-39-082-6.
- LUKASIEWICZ, Jace. Mickevičius. Vilnius, 1998. 248 p. ISBN 9986-861-71-3.
- MIŁOSZ, Czesław. Lenkų literatūros istorija. Vilnius, 1996, p. 529. ISBN 9986-403-72-3.
- Romantizmas Vakarų literatūroje. Vilnius, 2000, 312 p. ISBN 9986-19-391-5.