[...] The first complete edition of Papadiamantis was published after the war by Valetas (1954). Now that this preface is being written, without having yet stepped into the threshold of the twenty-first century, the editions of Papadiamantis are countless - here the prediction of Nirvana came true. However, we still do not have the "monumental national" or "classic" edition, and a careful study of the critical notes of this edition will show that this statement is not exaggerated or unfair.
It must be declared from the beginning and with emphasis that we will never be able to have a complete and accurate edition of Papadiamantis. Completeness and accuracy are two virtues that are ensured when the author himself takes care of the edition, or, at the very least, when his entire archive has been preserved. However, we have already mentioned that Papadiamantis died before seeing even a small volume of his stories printed. On the other hand, his archive, which was already scattered, has definitively dispersed and, for the most part, lost.
So, if this is the case and if our inability to have the text of Papadiamantis as it came out of his hand is announced in advance, what can we - and what should we - expect from an edition that dares to call itself critical? Only this: the greatest possible approximation to absolute completeness and accuracy. [...]

(From the preface of the first volume)