In Search of Authorial Signature: On Early Manuscripts from the Archives of Konrad Bielski and Józef Czechowicz

Abstract

In her article, Justyna Teterwak presents documents from the archives of Konrad Bielski and Józef Czechowicz, which include letters and materials containing Bielski’s juvenilia (Bielski’s rough drafts and copies of his poems made by Czechowicz). The analysis of individual pages of these autographs has allowed Teterwak to fill some gaps in the current biographical knowledge on the relationship between the members of the group Reflektor and its dynamics (from Bielski’s mentoring position to Czechowicz’s independence from the influence of the older poet). It has also allowed her to identify and define the agon (after Harold Bloom) present between the two writers in the process of shaping their creative personalities. Signatures preserved in the manuscripts make it especially noticeable. In Bielski’s rough drafts, one can see the initial stages of the writer’s developing his own signature, marked by the influence, as he repeatedly used Czechowicz’s signature in his attempts to work out his. While imitating the characteristic ligature of the younger writer, Bielski abandoned this idea each time. Those copies of Czechowicz’s signatures were almost invisible or were blurred, admittedly because Bielski was reluctant to use this personal element, especially
one belonging to a friend. It is worth mentioning that Bielski played a great role at the outset of Czechowicz’s literary career, which might have been the main reason for his disinclination to use the younger poet’s ligature in the process of designing his own signature.