ABSTRACT
Many times while recounting Boruwłaski’s life here we have made specific references to his memoirs, both the earlier and the later versions, above all treating them as a source of more or less reliable information. However, this publication – or rather these publications – certainly deserve more cautious and more careful attention, especially because they have not attracted much interest specifically as a work of literature. It seems that both English- and Polish-speaking researchers have adopted the opinion expressed by the author of the preface to the second edition: ‘The facts pointed out in this history are by no means important: they are in no wise connected with the great events of Europe, which so strongly impress all nations; they bear a proportion to the object described; they are in a manner correspondent to his size.’ 1 Indeed, history with a capital ‘H’ is absent from the memoirs. As we have already noted, the author fails to notice the ongoing partitions of Poland, the French Revolution nearly escapes his attention, and he remains focused on himself, on his own predicament and emotions, on the events he took part in first-hand. But is that sufficient reason to overlook what the content of his memoirs can tell us about the times in which he lived? There are indeed some intriguing surprises awaiting scholars willing to invest the time and effort. One crucial point that has to date most evidently escaped readers’ attention is that there exist two significant versions of the memoirs, differing so much from each other that one might be tempted to conclude that they report the lives of two different people. Boruwłaski thus presents himself to us in two completely different guises, worthy of careful analysis and comparison.
