Studia Językoznawcze

Bolesław Prus has always been a widely-read writer (which means that his books must have been relatively easy). But his press texts are more difficult and less attractive for readers. In order to understand such texts the reader must be equipped with additional instruments and generally must be better prepared. The article is supposed to answer the question what the efforts were that the consecutive editors of the ‘Chronicles’ made to help the reader of the press texts understand them better and what image of the scale of that indispensable help the editors had. The article presents four editions of the ‘Chronicles’ by Bolesław Prus in the chronological order. Special attention has been paid to the information included in the introductions or prefaces to the editions concerning potential readers and the instructions for them which were expected to help them understand the contents and the author’s intentions. Not much less attention has been devoted to the information and remarks placed by the editors in the texts of the ‘Chronicles’ or in their foot- or endnotes.