Juliusz Osterwa’s Manuscripts: Problems of Heritage

The article discusses problems related to the handwritten legacy of Juliusz Osterwa (1885–1947), the founder of the Reduta theatre. This legacy poses several challenges for researchers, including ethical ones. Firstly, on his deathbed Osterwa requested that his notes be burned (a wish the family did not fulfil). Secondly, the legacy is dispersed, partly lost, or still hidden as a result of the wartime events of 1939–1945. Thirdly, the diversity of the material makes it difficult to distinguish coherent thematic units suitable for scholarly editing and publication, and, finally, Osterwa’s handwriting itself poses a considerable challenge to decipherment. Nevertheless, the legacy of documenting Osterwa’s theatrical ideas, personal life, and the broader contexts of his artistic activity is of such importance and value that since the 1970s scholars (Józef Szczublewski, Zbigniew Osiński, Ireneusz Guszpit, Dariusz Kosiński, Andrzej Kruczyński, and the present author among them) have undertaken the study and publication of selected parts of the archive. Initiated in 2019 by the Zbigniew Raszewski Theatre Institute, the publishing series ‘Reducie na stulecie’ [For Reduta’s Centennial] aims to disseminate and popularize the heritage of the Reduta, including the publication of source materials. The recently published fourth volume of the series – Juliusz Osterwa’s Dziennik 1934–1935 [Diary], whose original has unfortunately not survived – serves here as a case study.