[ZbigniewHERBERT ]. Handwritten letter from Zbigniew Herbert to unnamed Halina and Zdzislaw Najder, dated. 1 IV 1968 in Paris.
Double-sided manuscript on ark. 27x21 cm. Apologizing for his long silence, Herbert informs that two days earlier he had married Kasia (Katarzyna Dzieduszycka). The wedding was "lovingly given by the consul Mickiewicz. Słowacki was not there, we know, by the way, these irritations of the bards." The poet gives the date as March 27, the calendar of life and works places the event two days later. He enumerates the people present at the consulate at the time (including the bride's sister Teresa, "Jas" Lebenstein, Romek Zaleski, two secret police). "It went quite well at all, only those women [...] were kind of sad," he says. He mentions his wife's passport troubles and his own, as the documents are "either not renewed or printed." The second part of the letter is devoted to "Polish affairs." He does not share Najder's belief that one should directly protest the anti-Semitic actions of the authorities: "I consider writing an open letter (open to whom? what?) to be hopeless." And he appeals: "Zdzislaw Druhu, Scout, Friend - I ask and even demand - get a grip on yourself." He believes that Poland lacks centers of political thought, and sees the actions of Michnik's group, Kuroń and Modzelewski, the "obscure" Kolakowski and the so-called revisionists as a "pathetic spectacle." Second part of letter with deletions with additions, corrections (which is rare in Herbert's correspondence). Traces of folding, very good condition.
Z. Herbert (1924-1998) - poet, essayist, playwright, author of radio plays, serious contender for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Knight of the Order of the White Eagle.
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