Tekstografie Aleksandra Gwagnina – o swoistości wydania „Kroniki Sarmacyjej europskiej” z 1611 r. Na marginesie przygotowywanej edycji

The subject of consideration is the edition of Aleksander Gwagnin’s Kronika Sarmacyjej europejskiej (The Chronicle of European Sarmatia) published in Kraków between 1611 and 1612. The aim is to present the differences between various copies of that edition. Discrepancies are visible in the frame elements such as the title pages, the stemma, and dedication letters. Changes were also made in regard to the list and the layout of illustrations. Particularly specific differences are visible in the copy currently in the inventory of the State and City Library of Augsburg, where certain illustrations have been replaced entirely, and parts of the text have had their typesetting redone. Comparison of many copies reveals that during the typesetting phase, modifications were made in regards to the choice of fonts, and some transformations of the text itself are also visible. Observed differences are a record of work on an edition that was graced with an increasing interest from the readers. Change of date on the title page and attribution of the text to Sigismund III Vasa during the final stage of the works does not mean that we are looking at a new edition, as this is only a titular variant. Reconstructed efforts of the Mikołaj Lob’s publishing house in Kraków are an interesting example of how an Old Polish prestigious edition was shaped, published at the time of the Seym proceedings following the conquest of Smoleńsk by the armies of Sigismund III Vasa in June 1611. We are therefore able to observe the indirect influence of contemporary politics on the art of editing.