“[...] now our hearts are bound with a double bond.” Letters of Helena née Dzieduszycka Pawlikowska to Paulina née Ratajska Dzieduszycka as a Testimony of Sisterly Friendship and the Beginning of the Two Women's Marital Histories

Abstract

The aim of this article is to present a manuscript set of letters by Helena Dzieduszycka (Pawlikowska from 1859) to her friend and future sister-in-law, Paulina Ratajska (Dzieduszycka from 1860). The correspondence, which forms part of the Pawlikowski Archive, has been treated as a story unfolding over time (1856-1860) about the emotions of two friends caused by changes in their personal lives that they experienced almost simultaneously. Firstly, the analysis of the letters provides insight into a remarkable love story involving two couples, in which, apart from the author and the addressee, an important role is also played by their fiancés, and later husbands: Mieczysław Dzieduszycki and Mieczysław Pawlikowski, distinguished representatives of Galician families who contributed greatly to Polish culture. secondly, it allows for the reconstruction and evaluation of the picture of the feelings, expectations and needs of young women from the noble and landed gentry of the second half of the 19th century that emerges from the letters. This sketch is a starting point for the publication of the correspondence between Mieczysław Dzieduszycki and his wife Paulina, author of columns, stories and humorous sketches written under the pseudonym Paweł Sas.