Bolesława Prusa 'zabawa' w pisanie na maszynie – narzędzie, autor, tekst

The text presents Bolesław Prus’ first exercises in writing on a typewriter, depicting an experienced writer at the very moment of substantial changes in his workshop when he shifts from a manuscript to a typescript. One of his first typescripts catalogued as "Nauka Bolesława Prusa pisania na maszynie" ["Bolesław Prus practice in typewriting"] (manuscript BPW 128 IV compared with the first edition) is a valuable testimony of writer’s thoughts on the introduction of facts (in "Kroniki" ["Chronicles"]) and the creation of texts in general (composition rules), and also serves as a record of the nineteenth century everyday life (biographical information about the writer). These exercises are also an interesting example of a meta-text in which the author recorded and commented on his numerous errors, mistakes and corrections while becoming familiar with the new tool. The article is an attempt to analyse the role of the typewriter in writer’s life in the context of the historic evolution of the typewriter itself (on the basis of memoirs from the period and other sources dealing with the history of typewriters in Poland in the 19th century and at the turn of 19th and 20th centuries). Prus’ first typescript is published separately with editorial comments.