Orzeszkowa privately. Road to sovereignty on the basis of correspondence with publishers

Abstract

The article concerns “private” Orzeszkowa, who in the rich correspondence with publishers reveals her views on: writer’s sovereignty, possible concessions to publishers and “upgrading” the works included in new, collective, editions. The letters also contain valuable information on the origins of novel and negotiations conducted by Orzeszkowa in relations to publishing her subsequent works. Among the surviving letters addressed in years 1864–1910 to, among others, Józef Sikorski, Gebethner and Wolff, Franciszek Salezy Lewental, Erazm Piltz, Stanisław Posner, the ones selected for analysis were the ones addressed to: Józef Sikorski and Franciszek Salomon Lewental (with the focus being largely on the correspondence addressed to Sikorski). The correspondence is the most accurate manifestation of Orzeszkowa’s personality and her maturing, it reveals the background of conflicts over the work’s final form, and amazes with the young author’s uncompromising attitude and courage.