A Word by the Editor
of The Collected Works of Petar Kočić

 After intensive two-year preparations „The Collected Works of Petar Kočić" stand before the reader and the public. This specially prepared critical edition, and in the opinion of the publisher, the most complete until now, appears in the year of celebrating 125 years of Kočić's birth, 100 years of publishing his first collection of stories, 95 years of publishing his first selection of stories in the edition of Serbian Literary Community in Belgrade, as well as the appearance of the first issue of the newspaper „The Fatherland".

This edition offers new reading of Kočić, necessary explanations of all published texts, additions and comparisons with the earlier editions and, most of all, returning to original texts and letters which had certain „corrections" in earlier editions. We are also publishing, until now, the most complete dictionary of archaisms, less known words and expressions in literary work of Kočić. In this edition the reader will also find some up to now unpublished texts.

The damaged notebook of Kočić from the one-year imprisonment in the „Black House" in Banja Luka and the prison in Donja Tuzla was found in the hand-written legacy of Vladimir Ćorović. There, the writer was making some notes of certain impressions, reflections, contacts made with people and prison staff, of outer echoes of freedom, concepts and sketches of letters. He was playing with the pencil on the paper. This edition is richer in two, up to now, unknown folklore records from Ratkovo on Zmijanje – a toast „Va slava" and a poem „Brother and Sister". There are also four up to this edition unknown letters. Three of those are written to his wife Milka and the fourth most probably to Jovan Skerlić.

The record „Ratkovo", written in 1891., is also very valuable because it shows Kočić's interest in the history and the tradition of his region and people ever since early youth. This text cannot be found in any until now published collected works of Kočić.

The bibliography is a book for itself. It is the most complete and the most reliable bibliography concernig Kočić done until now. We must also mention that in the period dealt with by the earlier bibliographies, we have found about seven hunderts of new bibliographical units in the chapter on literature alone, and translations and special editions are enlarged with eight new titles.

We must not forget the fact that this work contains the portrait of Petar Kočić done in oil on wood by the famous painter Špiro Bocarić, as well as a few until now unpublished photographs, manuscripts and interesting details from the life and work of this great writer of Serbian literature.

If this critical, additional and enriched edition of „Collected Works of Petar Kočić" is reason and necessity to return to our Kočić in the future as well, more often and more serious then till now, then the editors will consider themselves entirely successful in their intention.

This edition is an effort in finding the best way for further research of Kočić's work, which is our debt and obligation towards the great writer, fighter and deputy.

In the first volume of „Collected Works" we offer to the reader the stories divided into two parts: „The true fighters" and „Simeun Djak". The second part contains „The Song-Book of Kočić", „Lyrical Prose", „Lyrical Judgements", „Sketch from the city life" as well as „Surveys, notes, articles". The third part of „Collected works" contains „Speeches of the Parliament" and „Interpellations", correspondence, his letters and letters written to him, as well as „The Addition with the newly discovered texts and letters of Kočić". There you can also find the new Dictionary and the Chronology of the writer's life and work. The fourth book contains extensive and the most comprehensive bibliography of the writer.

Nenad Novaković