VU Museum Presents the Anniversary Bilingual Edition of Adam Mickiewicz’s First Book

On 9 February, 6 p.m. Vilnius University (VU) Aula Parva Hall (Universiteto g. 3) will host a discussion about the book Poetry of Adam Mickiewicz. Volume One/Poezye Adama Mickiewicza. Tom pierwszy. The book is considered to be the starting point for Polish and Lithuanian Romanticism, which celebrated its 200th anniversary in 2022.

“The Vilnius University Museum, planning the jubilee of Polish and Lithuanian Romanticism, has been looking for ways to commemorate it. In addition to the many different commemorative events, we decided it was important to look back to the beginnings of Romanticism - the first collection of poetry by Adam Mickiewicz. It took about a year and a half to compile and translate the book. We are glad the book was published on the eve of Vilnius’ birthday. In a way, it represents Vilnius’s multicultural past and the respect for it, strengthening the bonds of communion between the different people who built and are building Vilnius today,” M. Ramonaitė, the project leader, said, discussing the making of the book.

The event will be opened by Vilnius University Rector Prof. Rimvydas Petrauskas and the First Counsellor at the Embassy of the Republic of Poland, Head of the Polish Institute in Vilnius Dorota Mamaj. The new book, its translation, and the idea of its publication will be presented by poetry translator Prof. Regina Koženiauskienė, the compiler and editor-in-chief of the book, Senior Research Fellow at the Lithuanian Institute of History Dr. Reda Griškaitė, literary scholar, VU Professor Brigita Speičytė, and the project leader, Director of the VU Museum Monika Ramonaitė. The event will feature ballads by A. Mickiewicz in Lithuanian and Polish. Guests will have a unique opportunity to see a copy of the first volume of A. Mickiewicz’s Poetry from 1822, which is preserved in the Rare Prints Department of the VU Library.

The original of A. Mickiewicz’s book was published in 1822, in Juozapas Zavadskis’s press shop and publishing house at Vilnius University. The new edition of Poetry. Volume One is the first to be produced in both Lithuanian and Polish as a solid source publication, featuring the original texts of A. Mickiewicz and their new translations into Lithuanian. The book also includes texts by literary scholars and the book’s editors, as well as illustrations by artist Stasys Eidrigevičius.

Poetry translator Prof. R. Koženiauskienė translated the poetry from the original source from 1822 - a unique edition of 513 items.
“Every translator aims to feel and convey the spirit and style of an era. Adam Mickiewicz’s Polish seems simple, clear, and lucid, but it has immense inner power,” says Prof. R. Koženiauskienė. “It is the power within poetry, not bland but truly charming in its simplicity, the image, the harmony of words, and the graceful style that are the most difficult to convey. The poet’s word only appears simple and unadorned, but it is always deliberate and precise and also an image.”
According to the book’s editor, Dr. R. Griškaitė, one of the most important desires of the authors was to present the original as it was in the very first edition - letter by letter, mark by mark, with great respect for Mickiewicz’s regionalism and even spelling and proofreading errors.
“Of course, all of this had to be thoroughly explained to the reader, telling both the history of the first volume of Mickiewicz’s poetry and the concept of our publication. This is how my foreword and the introductory article came about,” she says.
The book is available for purchase at the VU Publishing House bookstore, the VU Museum, and other book distribution outlets, as well as at the book launch event.
The book's publication was financed by the Lithuanian Council for Culture, the Foundation Aid to Poles in the East funded by the Polish Minister of Culture and National Heritage from the Culture Support Fund, and the Polish Institute in Vilnius.