Research conducted within the project involved multifaceted work on Józef Łobodowski’s notebooks. The resulting output comprises (1) a repository containing digitised archive material, (2) a digital edition prepared to the relevant standards, and (3) three published volumes containing texts from the notebooks, prepared for publication in compliance with present-day editorial requirements.
The digital repository was created in cooperation with the Józef Czechowicz Museum (a branch of the National Museum in Lublin). To create the repository, the notebooks were systematised, annotated, and digitised with professional software. The resulting files have been made available on the Museum’s website.
The digital edition was based on the photographs of notebooks and their transliteration by members of the project team. Extensible Markup Language (XML) was used; text was encoded with the XML standard, while Edition Visualization Technology (EVT) was used for the visuals. The juxtaposition of these two components allowed the creation of a cohesive visual arrangement, consistent with the standards of such digital editorial projects.
The three published volumes were prepared so as to best present the heterogeneity of Józef Łobodowski’s literary output, where the pages of his notebooks contain texts of various character. For this reason, the individual volumes were designed to showcase the key areas of Łobodowski creative activity. Volume one contains his poetry and prose, volume two his opinion and polemical writing, and volume three translations and literary criticism. All texts were prepared to the standards of present-day publishing and presented in such a way as to enable the (not necessarily professional) reader a sound idea of the notebooks’ contents. In addition, the last volume is appended with academic texts written by the project team members which discuss research question connected with the procedure of editing notebooks and with the character of the material contained within the notebooks. These texts comprise concise essays on the history of literature, genology, text genetics, and genetic criticism.\
The comprehensive and multifaceted editions of Józef Łobodowski’s notebooks is an example of how manuscripts can be made available at present. For this project, they were made available in two complementary formats: digital and traditional. The former allows the reproduction of the visual shape of the manuscript and the processual character of writing (digital repository, digital edition). The latter allows the presentation of Łobodowski’s texts in a form consistent with the current editing guidelines and with present-day publishing practice. Furthermore, the scholarly apparatus prepared for this project may become useful with regard to editing and publishing other manuscripts which constitute a key aspect of local or national cultural heritage.
