The present article was written mostly on the basis of the archival sources. It consists of the introduction and Czapska’s chronology of life and oeuvre. Most of the dates included are accompanied by specifically chosen quotes – of mostly unpublished nature – to provide a more nuanced context and to broaden resonance of the information. The article is an attempt at presenting the most important narrative points and directions in the life of Maria Czapska – an extraordinary woman, literature historian, essayist, editor and still undiscovered writer. After the publication of the book Bywajcie zdrowi i naelektryzowani! (Stay Well and Charged Up!), the present article is the next attempt of A. Kosińska to portray Maria Czapska, while simultaneously presenting little known episodes from Jozef Czapski’s biography.

The relationship network of Jozef Czapski can be truly overwhelming. Amongst the people, with which Czapski kept in touch, Jean Guitton (1901–1999) – French philosopher, Catholic theologian, writer, amateur painter and a member of the French Academy – can be found. It was not a lifelong acquaintance, still it is worth getting looked closer at to perceive both protagonists as mirror images of themselves. This constellation is completed by Maria Czapska, the sister of Jozef, who was also interested in Guitton – with reciprocity at that. In the present article, the author takes a closer look at their contacts – those documented (on the basis of journals, correspondence and other sources) as well as those not so obvious, or implicit – which is made possible by the essay format. The mentioned individuals met at the beginning of the 1950s within the circle around the legendary person of the Parisian literary-scientific milieu, Daniel Halevy. The most important reason, Guitton had for the contact with Czapski, was art. The philosopher considered himself not only a writer but also a painter. In 1956 Czapski wrote him a letter about the painter’s métier (the letter was published by Guitton in his Journal, and is quoted in its entirety in the article’s appendix). In said letter the painter shared the best pieces of advice; he didn’t gloss over the difficulties connected with the artistic career. With that, he was completely honest, as we know, his creative approach was based on wonder and doubt in equal measures. He never concealed his uncertainty, and openly shared his dilemmas. Guitton on the other hand however, searched for freedom, rest and rapid sublimation through painting. To tell the truth, it wasn’t in the spirit of Czapski.

The article is an attempt at finding Józef Czapski’s letters to Kazimierz Wierzyński, which originates from the statement of Czapski in his later years negating any correspondence exchange with the Earth–She-Wolf’s author. The article presents a few unprinted letters from the archival collections and one, retrieved from a published letter collection of Czapski to a different immigration poet.

The article is a commentary on the Polish translation of Richard Kearney’s book Anatheism: Returning to God After God, as it discusses the main areas of concern present in the Irish philosopher’s thought at the same time. The author reconstructs the methodological groundwork and inspirations that led Kearney to the concept of anatheism. The starting point is the hermeneutic philosophy, which becomes an indispensable method of reading when the transcendence is considered a “surplus of meaning.” The hermeneutic postulate of constantly repeated re-reading leads to the discovery of an anatheistic attitude present in the well-known texts. It appears as a special variant of openness to the Other recorded in the holy books of the Abrahamic traditions and as a sacramental poetics, which refers to idiom of trans-substantiation, present in the flagship novels of European modernism. In the final part of the article, the author situates Kearney within a broader map of the post-secular reflection and notes his contribution to Charles Taylor’s battle against the phenomenon of modern “excarnation.”