In Land of Letters

The letters are extremely ubiquitous. We use them every day, although sometimes we don't even think about it. They accompany us when we write a text message or e-mail, when we sign a document or when we make a complaint. Without writing skills, we would be completely helpless in the world around us. Over the centuries, this skill was possessed by a few. Interestingly, at various times, writing was associated with the use of various tools. Therefore, I invite you to the story of the written word.

Created by:

Renata Pernak

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Degrees of initiation, from learning to write to mastering skills

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Zeszyt Rywki Wolowelskiej do gramatyki hebrajskiej ze szkoły Tarbut

Museum of the history of Polish Jews

FIRST STEPS

One of the first skills a student acquires is writing. First, they repeat individual letters, later they combine them into words, and finally into sentences. The key is knowledge of the alphabet.

Zeszyt Rywki Wolowelskiej do gramatyki hebrajskiej ze szkoły Tarbut

Museum of the history of Polish Jews

Most European languages are based on the Latin alphabet, that is, the system of 26 letters used in Poland as well – from A to Z. However, the alphabets of individual languages can slightly differ. For example, "ą" is only found in Polish, and "ü" in German.

Zeszyt Rywki Wolowelskiej do gramatyki hebrajskiej ze szkoły Tarbut

Museum of the history of Polish Jews

There are languages that use entirely different letters. Among them are Arabic, Georgian, Russian, or Hebrew. It is precisely the way of learning the latter that we can see in the presented notebook. The Hebrew alphabet consists of 22 characters – only consonants! It doesn't have uppercase and lowercase letters – all are the same size. Interestingly, in Hebrew, we write from right to left.

Zeszyt Rywki Wolowelskiej do gramatyki hebrajskiej ze szkoły Tarbut

Museum of the history of Polish Jews

Inicjał `C` i scena oślepienia Piotra Dunina

Museum of King Jan III's Palace at Wilanów

Inicjał `C` i scena oślepienia Piotra Dunina

Museum of King Jan III's Palace at Wilanów

MASTERFUL PRECISION

Today, the ability to write is something obvious to us, but in the past, only a few possessed it. Books were manually copied, and individual pages were decorated. Of course, practice makes perfect, but artistic talent certainly helped in this regard.

Inicjał `C` i scena oślepienia Piotra Dunina

Museum of King Jan III's Palace at Wilanów

Among the most frequently decorated elements was the first letter that started a chapter or paragraph. Such a letter is called an initial. This name comes from the Latin word initium meaning "beginning".

Inicjał `C` i scena oślepienia Piotra Dunina

Museum of King Jan III's Palace at Wilanów

The presented initial "C" is a true work of art. It was created using lithography. This is a type of print, but it has nothing to do with either a printer or a computer. First, a drawing is manually made on a special stone using ink or pencil, and then it is fixed using chemicals. To transfer the image from the stone to a sheet of paper, the drawing needs to be painted with black paint, and then it needs to be stamped – similar to making a seal.

With and without inspiration, from functional text to beautiful literature

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Księga protokołów różnych spraw sądu wójtowskiego miasta Łańcuta 1683-1687

Castle Museum in Łańcut

IN THE COURTROOM

In 17th-century Poland, a person who could read and write could apply for a good job. Where? For example, in the court as a writer, that is, a person who writes reports (more precisely – protocols) from the proceedings.

Księga protokołów różnych spraw sądu wójtowskiego miasta Łańcuta 1683-1687

Castle Museum in Łańcut

From the preserved documents, we can find out, for example, what the neighbors were arguing about or who started an argument in the tavern that ended in a fight. The course of what happened in the courtroom, however, was not written down word for word. This allows us to guess that the writer was only taking notes at the time and only later tried to describe the events according to a certain scheme. They had to provide, for example, the date of the hearing, the people involved in the dispute, and the verdict that was rendered.

Księga protokołów różnych spraw sądu wójtowskiego miasta Łańcuta 1683-1687

Castle Museum in Łańcut

Such a text had a functional, or practical, character. Its main purpose was to leave a reliable trace after the finished hearing.

Księga protokołów różnych spraw sądu wójtowskiego miasta Łańcuta 1683-1687

Castle Museum in Łańcut

Poem on the city of Lublin

National Museum in Lublin

Poem on the city of Lublin

National Museum in Lublin

WITH CREATIVE INSPIRATION

Nowadays, the word "writer" is no longer associated with functional texts, e.g., judicial ones, but with beautiful literature. We call all works that have been written with special care for language and have artistic value by this latter name. Currently, most writers use a computer while working. However, in the past, they wrote by hand. We call such a first version of a book, handwritten by the author, a manuscript.

Poem on the city of Lublin

National Museum in Lublin

Poem on the city of Lublin

National Museum in Lublin

Manuscripts allow us to get to know a particular writer better. Did they often make mistakes and cross out a lot? Did they write carefully – or maybe sloppily? In the presented copy, we see various notes in the margins, e.g., "music as a backdrop". The author – Józef Czechowicz – wrote this text with the idea of it being read on the radio in the form of a radio drama. That's why he noted suggestions on the side about what sounds could accompany the reading at any given moment.

The text was published in printed form after the author's death.

Forgotten furniture, from hiding secrets to a portable desk

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Secretary

Castle Museum in Łańcut

CONFIDENTIAL CORRESPONDENCE

The presented furniture is a secretary desk, which was previously used, among other things, to write a letter. Today, in the era of phones and the Internet, the custom of writing letters has almost disappeared. However, in the past, a letter was the only way to inform loved ones and friends about what's happening with us, or to just gossip and chat at a distance. To understand how important this activity was, it's worth using an example. It is believed that the writer Henryk Sienkiewicz wrote about 15,000 letters in his life!

Secretary

Castle Museum in Łańcut

To create a letter, you first had to unlock the middle part of the secretary desk with a key and unfold it, creating a horizontal desk surface. You put the paper on it, reached for a pen and an inkwell, a container with ink ... and you could start writing.

The name of this piece of furniture – secretary desk – comes from the word "secret". That's because it has many tiny drawers and compartments, some of which can be locked with a key. All this so that the owner of the desk could keep the contents of their letters or documents secret.

Secretary

Castle Museum in Łańcut

Pulpit stołowy

Museum of King Jan III's Palace at Wilanów

Pulpit stołowy

Museum of King Jan III's Palace at Wilanów

MOBILE DESK

The brown wooden box is actually a portable mini-desk. Closed – it is used for writing. For this purpose, a slat was placed near the lower edge, which allows you to support a sheet of paper. This piece of furniture was used when writing by hand with a pen and ink. All the necessary props could be stored inside it. The box, locked with a key, not only prevented the writing tools from getting lost, but also protected privacy.

Pulpit stołowy

Museum of King Jan III's Palace at Wilanów

Pulpit stołowy

Museum of King Jan III's Palace at Wilanów

The old desk is beautifully decorated with scenes related to hunting. Perhaps this was the favorite pastime of its owner, but they could equally well serve to stimulate imagination or simply decorate the room.

Technological progress, from a quill pen to a keyboard

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Piasecznica

Museum of King Jan III's Palace at Wilanów

Piasecznica

Museum of King Jan III's Palace at Wilanów

ANCIENT PEN

At first glance, this set looks like a salt and pepper shaker. However, these elaborately decorated vessels are not related to eating, but to ... writing. But it's an extraordinary kind of writing, from old times – when pens or markers were not yet used, only ink and a quill. Initially, simply sharpened bird feathers, including goose, were used, and a little later they were finished with a nib, a small piece of metal with a sharp end.

Piasecznica

Museum of King Jan III's Palace at Wilanów

Each of the containers we see was essential when writing with a quill. Two of them – those with lids – are inkwells in which ink was stored. You lifted the lid and dipped the pen in the ink. Then you could start writing. To make sure that the written words would not smudge, you used the contents of the last container. Through holes resembling a sieve, you sprinkled tiny sand on the written page, which absorbed the moisture. Only a well-dried document ensured that nothing of the written content would be lost.

Typewriter

National Museum in Szczecin

TAP-TAP AND A BELL

The presented machine is almost a hundred years old and was made in Germany – this is confirmed by inscriptions with the company name: Stoewer. Before computers were invented, documents or letters were created on similar machines.

How did such a device work? You screwed a sheet of paper into the cylinder and hit the keys to strike out the next letters and words. The clever machine moved the cylinder with the paper one space with each keypress until the end of the line. Then a bell would signal that you needed to move the cylinder back – and start a new line.

Typewriter

National Museum in Szczecin

Typewriter

National Museum in Szczecin

We usually don't wonder why the letters on a typewriter keyboard have a slightly strange – different from the alphabet – layout. In the second row from the top, looking from the left side, are the letters Q, W, E, R, T, Z. It seems like complete chaos. However, the idea was to have the most frequently used letters not located next to each other on the keyboard, as they would jam during typing. And although nothing jams in a computer keyboard, tradition remained tradition – with minor changes, the layout of letters from old machines has been preserved to this day.

In Land of Letters

Treść ścieżki edukacyjnej

Zeszyt Rywki Wolowelskiej do gramatyki hebrajskiej ze szkoły Tarbut

Zeszyt Rywki Wolowelskiej do gramatyki hebrajskiej ze szkoły Tarbut

Zeszyt Rywki Wolowelskiej do gramatyki hebrajskiej ze szkoły Tarbut

Inicjał `C` i scena oślepienia Piotra Dunina

Inicjał `C` i scena oślepienia Piotra Dunina

Inicjał `C` i scena oślepienia Piotra Dunina

Księga protokołów różnych spraw sądu wójtowskiego miasta Łańcuta 1683-1687

Księga protokołów różnych spraw sądu wójtowskiego miasta Łańcuta 1683-1687

Księga protokołów różnych spraw sądu wójtowskiego miasta Łańcuta 1683-1687

Poem on the city of Lublin

Poem on the city of Lublin

Secretary

Secretary

Pulpit stołowy

Pulpit stołowy

Piasecznica

Piasecznica

Typewriter

Typewriter

In Land of Letters

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