Cooperation between I. Lyzanivskyi and M. Vozniak in preparing thirty-volume edition of Ivan Franko’s works

Abstract

The paper clarifies the nature of collaboration between I. Lyzanivskyi and M. Vozniak during the preparation of the first multi-volume edition of Ivan Franko’s works (1924—1931). The study is based on the analysis of letters from the editor of the cooperative publishing house “Rukh”, now kept in Vasyl Stefanyk National Scientific Library of Ukraine in Lviv. The preserved correspondence dates back to 1926—1929. The characteristics of the preliminary work for setting up the corpus of the writer’s critical works have been outlined. According to I. Lyzanivskyi’s plan, the first volume had to be ready for publication in the spring of 1927. The editor prepared a list of I. Franko’s critical works recommended for purchase and copying. As the use of the writer’s archive was impossible, the works were reprinted from the first and the last lifetime editions. Therefore, the stage of searching for the material was extremely important. F. Dudko assisted in copying the works. The preserved handwritten and typewritten copies from Ivan Franko archive in Shevchenko Institute of Literature show that the list of works was gradually extended. Some materials contain the notes and indications of the copyist and editorial corrections. However, due to unfavorable circumstances, the critical works were not included in the thirty-volume edition. Besides, according to the letters, the editor intended to publish the novel “Without Asking Where the Wade Is” (“Ne Spytavshy Brodu”), reconstructed by M. Vozniak, but it also remained unpublished. Instead, the novel “Lel and Polel” (“Lel i Polel”) was introduced to the readers for the first time. It was reconstructed and translated by M. Vozniak and set in the 30th volume of the edition. The collaboration of I. Lyzanivskyi and M. Vozniak to some extent prompted the scholar to study the history of Ivan Franko’s drama “Rowan” (“Horobyna”) and establish its main text. The research work was published in 1940 in the “Notes of Historical and Philological Faculties”.