EDITING – A KNOWLEDGE AND A SKILL
The first part of the article discusses the popularity of editing courses at Polish universities and colleges in the last several years; it focuses on different fields of studies, e.g. law, history, librarianship, or Polish studies. Unfortunately, these courses are often limited to basic editor’s skills; the author expresses an opinion that, if they are not accompanied by advanced studies on literature and language, the professional success of the graduates cannot be guaranteed.
The second part is devoted to the problems of textual criticism and scholarly editing in Poland nowadays. The author discusses the latest editions of important Polish writers and the most urgent needs in this domain. Another topic touched upon are the transcription rules of old Polish texts. The last part presents and discusses perspectives of the electronic edition: it may attain a high level of attractiveness and value if it becomes something more than just an image of the printed edition on the screen, something that cannot be simply printed out.

The first part of the article discusses the popularity of editing courses at Polish universities and colleges in the last several years; it focuses on different fields of studies, e.g. law, history, librarianship, or Polish studies. Unfortunately, these courses are often limited to basic editor’s skills; the author expresses an opinion that, if they are not accompanied by advanced studies on literature and language, the professional success of the graduates cannot be guaranteed.
The second part is devoted to the problems of textual criticism and scholarly editing in Poland nowadays. The author discusses the latest editions of important Polish writers and the most urgent needs in this domain. Another topic touched upon are the transcription rules of old Polish texts. The last part presents and discusses perspectives of the electronic edition: it may attain a high level of attractiveness and value if it becomes something more than just an image of the printed edition on the screen, something that cannot be simply printed out.