August Antoni Jakubowski’s life and work : latest research

This article re-examines the life and work of August Antoni Jakubowski, illegitimate son of the Romantic poet Antoni Malczewski. After the November Uprising (1830-1831) Jakubowski was deported from Austria to the Unites States, where he wrote The Remembrances of a Polish Exile, the first book on Polish history, literature and education to be published in America in English. The article discusses "Melodie amerykańskie" (American Melodies), a little known poem which has not yet been the subject of an in-depth literary analysis, as well as a number of hitherto unknown references to Jakubowski in the letters his student Mary Pierce Poor wrote to her parents between 1836 and 1837. The article presents the results of research into primary source material in American collections; the project was funded by a grant from the Kościuszko Foundation.