Poet, Physician, and Diplomat at the Court of the Radziwiłł family. Critical edition of Daniel Naborowski’s correspondence

FUNDING SCHEMES:

‘National Programme for the Development of the Humanities’ (Narodowy Program Rozwoju Humanistyki) funded by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education.

Contract No.: 0252/NPRH9/H11/88/2021.

DURATION: 2022 - 2027
PI: Dr. Alicja Bielak
TEAM:
  • Jan Błoński (European University Institute)
  • Dr. Wojciech Kordyzon (University of Warsaw)
  • Prof. Krzysztof Mrowcewicz (Polish Academy of Sciences)
  • Tomasz Płóciennik (University of Warsaw)

The primary aim of the project is the identification and the preparation of a critical edition of the correspondence of Daniel Naborowski (1573-1640). By systematically researching and finding new archival sources (manuscripts and printed books) in various locations, the project seeks to supplement Naborowsk’s biography and to publish previously unreleased personal documents. The edition will take two forms: 1) a traditional printed edition and 2) an online edition in the TEI standard for critical digital editions.

As a starting point for the project, it is planned to conduct the first such extensive series of archival research devoted to the poet, in order to expand our knowledge of his life and work, based on, among other things, a developed list of works and materials that are currently lost but are mentioned in the surviving letters. We hope that the study of Naborowsk’s correspondence will stimulate further research into the whole of Radziwiłł’s environment. The model of activity developed during the project can be extended in the future to other figures of active epistolographers associated with this circle.

A traditional critical edition will show Naborowski, hitherto recognised primarily as a poet, as a skilled prose writer, responding vividly to various literary traditions, as well as a keen observer of the political and scientific scene in Europe at the time. The metadata of the correspondence will become part of the international database EMLO (Early Modern Letters Online at the University of Oxford), which collects the epistolographic network of early modern Europe.

The digital edition in TEI, in turn, will ensure international recognition of the writer as an important member of the res publica literaria (he maintained contacts with Galileo and Isaac Casaubon, among others). The metadata of the correspondence will become part of the international database EMLO (Early Modern Letters Online at the University of Oxford), which collects the epistolographic network of early modern Europe.

In addition, thanks to the definition of a suitable API in the project’s database, it will also be possible to obtain a visualization of the collected data: graphs showing the network of connections between Naborowski (and other figures) and the itinerary of the Radziwiłł agent, projected on an interactive map. Such a visualization will allow us to show his role in the network of international contacts he developed as a diplomat, physician, and poet.