In search of the boundaries of editorship: the diary of Jan Józef Lipski

Abstract

Jan Józef Lipski was writing his diary for thirteen years, from July 1954 till February 1967. A large part of the writings from the years 1962–1967 (with surviving single pages from 1963) was deliberately destroyed after Lipski was detained by the Security Service in February 1967, with the pages from the diary’s last entries being used by the Security Services to harass the people mentioned in them. It is not a typical diary, including very detailed daily routines, sometimes even minute by minute. Lipski’s diary is an important source from that period and a monumental work – devoid of composition, full of authenticity. The article describes the problems which appeared in the process of editing the diary, as well as the proposed editorial solutions.