Wyspiański Stanisław, Wesele. A Drama in Three Acts [Krakow 1901].

Wyspiański Stanisław, Wesele. Drama in Three Acts, published by the author, rebound at the Jagiellonian University Printing House, second edition, Krakow 1901, pp. 229, dimensions 14.5 x 21.5 cm. contemporary half leather handmade at Suszek Books, spine with raised scrolls and gilt, leather slipcase, soiling on title page, stamp "Advocate Mieczysław Chlebowski Nowy Sącz".

Stanislaw Wyspianski published The Wedding three times: two editions appeared in 1901, the third in 1903. There are 229 numbered pages in the 2nd edition. The text ends on p. 224, with notes on p. 225: Country music motif ending Act III; on p. 227 the cast of the March 16, 1901 Kraków premiere; on the last numbered page the cast of the Lviv premiere (premiered May 24, 1901).

The Wedding is one of the most important dramas of Polish literature, counted alongside Pan Tadeusz, among the most important works of national literature!

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On November 20, 1900, the wedding of Jadwiga Mikołajczykna and Lucjan Rydel took place at St. Mary's Basilica in Krakow, while the wedding took place in the village of Bronowice near Krakow, in the manor house of Włodzimierz Tetmajer. The event was accompanied from the first moment by great interest in Krakow salons. As Stanisław Waltoś writes in his book The Landscape of the "Wedding": "an atmosphere of a certain sensation surrounded it [the wedding], interest was already aroused by two other weddings - that of Włodzimierz Tetmajer and Stanisław Wyspiański. The latter was even given an aftertaste of almost scandal. The noble bourgeoisie did not want to think that a promising painter, the author of the recently staged Warszawianka (Varsovienne), married a country girl, with whom he had already had two children before the wedding."

Instead, this is how Rydel's wedding is recalled by Tadeusz Boy-Zeleński in his Plot about Wyspianski's "Wedding": "it was held at Tetmajer's house, it was lavish, it lasted, if I remember correctly, including the nuptials, about two or three days. (...) The whole countryside was invited, of course, from the city a few people from Rydel's family and friends, almost the entire painting world from Cracow."

From this group of Krakow guests, we can mention the characters who were the prototypes of the characters of The Wedding: children's book author Antonina Domanska - depicted as a Councilwoman, Kazimierz Przerwa-Tetmajer - Poet, Rudolf Starzewski - Journalist, Anna Rydlówna - Haneczka, Jadwiga Tetmajer-Naimska - Isia, Maria and Zofia Pareńska, and from Bronowice the innkeeper's daughter Pepa (Jozef) Singer - Rachel....

And Wyspianski, who, despite the fact that he was to be the world of the bride and groom, would almost not have appeared at the ceremony, because Rydel omitted Stanislaw's wife, Theodora, from the invitation. Fortunately, the conflict was smoothed over (reportedly at the last minute) and Mr. and Mrs. Wyspianski appeared at the historic ceremony.

"I remember him as if it were today, how tightly buttoned up in his black saree, he stood all night leaning against the doorframe, looking with steel, incredulous eyes. A wedding party was boiling next door, dances were roaring, and here a couple of people were walking into this chamber time and time again, a snippet of conversation was coming to his ears. And there he saw and heard his play" .