Biographical and Literary Collections

 

 

Bolesław Prus Museum in Nałęczów

The events of World War II irreversibly destroyed most of the collection that Oktawia Głowacka, the wife of Bolesław Prus, had donated to public institutions after the writer’s death. For sixty years, the museum bearing his name has been gathering memorabilia related to the life and work of the author of The Doll.

The institution’s collection includes unique photographs from the Głowacki family album, original letters from the writer and his wife, postcards, manuscripts, and typescripts of his works. Of particular note is the rich collection of illustrations for Prus’s works, especially a series of graphics by Edward Okuń for Pharaoh. These were created in 1914, after the artist had traveled to Egypt to capture the atmosphere of the ancient world as accurately as possible. However, the outbreak of World War I disrupted the publishing plans of Gebethner and Wolff, and as a result, the first (and only) edition of Pharaoh with Okuń’s illustrations was published a hundred years later.

The museum’s library, which contains over two thousand volumes, includes books that once belonged to Prus, proof copies and first editions of his works, as well as translations of his writings—even into more exotic languages, such as Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Armenian, Finnish, and Esperanto. The most interesting volumes from the museum’s collection are displayed in the writer’s study.

Bolesław Prus’s glasses, his ivory letter opener, a nameplate from the door of his Warsaw apartment, and two 19th-century typewriters are just some of the items on display in the permanent exhibition. Meanwhile, the institution’s archive holds a rich collection of bookplates, as well as documents and photographs that provide insight not only into the life and work of our Patron but also into the history of Nałęczów.

 

 

 

Collections of the Stefan Żeromski Museum in Nałęczów

 

The museum houses the authentic furnishings of the writer’s former study, including a sofa, chairs, and armchairs, with a bed located behind a screen. Żeromski’s desk, which he used in Warsaw while writing Ashes, remains intact, along with his personal library. A display cabinet features schoolbooks, notebooks, writing tools, travel souvenirs, and numerous drawings by Adam Żeromski.

The museum also exhibits Adam Żeromski’s school materials, travel souvenirs, drawings, skis, and ice axes. A significant highlight is the collection of portraits of Stefan Żeromski, created by renowned artists such as Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz, Eligiusz Niewiadomski, Tadeusz Pruszkowski, Michał Bojczuk (Ukraine), Tymon Niesiołowski, and Franciszek Siedlecki. Additionally, portraits of Adam Żeromski by Leon Wyczółkowski, Kazimierz Młodzianowski, and Michał Bojczuk are on display. The museum also holds sculpted relief portraits of Żeromski by Czesław Makowski and Stanisław Ostrowski.

Further notable pieces include sketches and drawings by Stanisław Witkiewicz and Witkacy, architectural designs by Jan Witkiewicz, works by Henryk Siemiradzki, Stanisław Noakowski, and Jan Stanisławski, as well as landscape compositions by Oktawia Żeromska. The museum even possesses two paintings by Stefan Żeromski himself: View from the Chata Window and an illustration for his short story The Crows and Ravens Will Peck Us to Pieces.

The collection also features documents related to the activities of the Światło Educational Society, the construction of an orphanage, and an extensive collection of letters from Stefan, Oktawia, and Adam Żeromski. The exhibition is enriched by various keepsakes, family photographs from different periods of the writer’s life, and personal memorabilia.

 

 

Collections of the Józef Czechowicz Literary Branch

 

The museum has successfully gathered the majority of Józef Czechowicz’s dispersed manuscript legacy, including original literary works, numerous letters to friends and family, photographs, and biographical documents such as diary fragments, school certificates, a diploma from the Institute of Special Education in Warsaw, and materials related to the activities of the Lublin Writers’ Association.

Additionally, the museum holds an extensive collection of manuscripts from other authors connected to the Lublin region, including Franciszka Arnsztajnowa, Konrad Bielski, Wacław Gralewski, Kazimierz Andrzej Jaworski, Antoni Madej, Bronisław Ludwik Michalski, Jerzy Pleśniarowicz, Wacław Mrozowski, Józef Nikodem Kłosowski, Józef Łobodowski, Maria Bechczyc-Rudnicka, Stanisław Bojarczuk, Jan Pock, and Anna Kamieńska.

The museum also preserves letters and manuscript works by some of Poland’s most distinguished poets, such as Czesław Miłosz, Wisława Szymborska, Zbigniew Herbert, Jerzy Zagórski, Julian Tuwim, and Konstanty Ildefons Gałczyński.

A particularly valuable part of the collection includes an extensive photographic documentation of Lublin’s literary life, a rich library of approximately ten thousand volumes, an archive of historical periodicals, recordings, memorabilia, and commemorative prints.