The second part of this article examines the content of the main sections of the weekly magazine Przyjaciel Dzieci [The Children’s Friend] (1892–1911), i.e. popular science; travel, geographical and ethnographical materials; biography; a section called “teaching actions”; and religion. Also covered are miscellanea, practical tips, puzzles and cartoons, as well as new sections “About the World” and “Educational Games and Entertainment”. Finally, the article looks at a review published by Poradnik dla Czytających Książki [A Guide for Book Readers] in 1901, whose author claims that some of the information in Przyjaciel Dzieci is outdated or obsolete.
The first part of this article focuses on one strand in the history of the weekly magazine Przyjaciel Dzieci (The Children’s Friend) under the editorship of Jan Skiwski (1892–1911), i.e. the gradual revision of the rules concerning the selection of its literary content, laid down by his predecessor Jan Kanty Gregorowicz (1867–1890). Skiwski modified them without abandoning the principles and artistic models of 19th century realism.
This article examines the jubilee book Nasz Plon [Our Harvest] prepared by editors of the Warsaw weekly magazine [Children’s Friend] (1861–1915) to mark the golden anniversary of its first issue. Set to appear in April 1911, its publication, plagued by various delays, did not take place until the following year. The volume, edited in a rather unprofessional manner (probably by Jadwiga Chrząszczewska), was full of errors ranging from misprints to all kinds of factual blunders. Yet, despite its faults it has a special place in the history of the Polish press: it was the first jubilee book of a children’s magazine and thus a notable sign of the rising social status of the children’s magazines.
The purpose of the study is a synthetic presentation of the development of children’s magazines in Poland from their creation to the end of World War I. The main focus of interest and research are magazines for younger and older children (up to 15 years of age) published in the Polish language across the ethnic and historical Polish territories. Periodicals published in this area in other languages (German, Russian, Belorussian, Ukrainian, Lithuanian, Yiddish, and Hebrew), one-days and calendars, school magazines, scouting and ethical magazines, and of course youth and student press were omitted. In the course of the research, it is established that 177 titles addressed to young recipients appeared in the examined period, 25 of which were published in the years 1824–1863, and 152 in the subsequent period.