The biographies of the journalists of Polish press published in West Prussia in the 19th and early 20th century usually highlight their patriotic commitment and admirable perseverance in launching and running various newspapers and journals. However, we can also find in their lives episodes that did them little credit, or even were downright disgraceful.

The aim of this article is to present the understanding of social history of Jerzy Topolski, from the theoretical side and as it was used in practical research work. The source basis, aside from the few direct quotes from the historian from Poznan on social history, are mainly analyses of his selected original works and works edited by him. The article also takes note of the discussion surrounding the term ‘social history’ itself and the research scope of social history as a historic discipline or sub-discipline which took place in the second half of the 20th century, which is the period in which Topolski published his works.

The main issues of this article are various references of Russian writers to the Bible that has a huge meaning and status in Russian culture. Such writers as representatives of „first wave" of emigration Boris Zaitsev, Ivan Shmelov, Aleksei Remizov, they use biblical material in orthodox, canonical way, what means that they do not change intention of the source. As well they paraphrase the Bible what means that they interpret and change semantical meaning of source. To the first group of writers belong Zaitsev (The Travel of Gleb) and Shmelov (The Year of Our Lord). To the second groupbelongs Remizov, who uses various techniques to transform the canonical text (Sisters of the Cross). Remizov, however, does not change the Christian meaning of text even when he modifies the text itself. Another writer, who was mentioned in the article, is Mikhail Bulhakov. He as well uses method of paraphrase in the biblical text. On account of lack of metaphysical horizon as well as not reli- gious meaning of the work The Master and Margarita, the writer illustrates humanistic and cultural reception of the Bible, her apocryphal version.

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.

The article outlines the history of Polish automotive magazines and, additionally, the results of the author’s latest research. The accumulation of hitherto unknown facts and new findings have made it necessary to revise the received view of the subject. So, for instance, the first Polish automotive magazine to be published was Gazeta Automobilowa. It was launched in Lwów in February 1911, five months earlier than Lotnik i Automobilista, until recently believed to be the first Polish car magazine. The article contains an updated, most comprehensive list of Polish automotive periodicals that appeared in print until 1939.

This article looks at Leopold Staff’s translation of Rabindranath Tagore’s volume of poems Fruit-Gathering (1921). A close analysis of the translator’s decisions and miscomprehensions in the Polish text – in confrontation with the French, German and English versions of the original – suggests that he made use of the English translation. The article throws light on the circumstances which led to the introduction of Tagore’s poetry to the Polish audience; reviews the main features of his poetics; and undertakes a comparative reading of the two texts, the original and its Polish rendition. The latter appears to be in many ways beholden to early 20th-century modernist taste, in particular its idealizing aesthetics and a fascination with the exotic Orient.

Polish scholarly magazines Biblioteka Warszawska [Warsaw Library] (1841–1914) and Ateneum (1876– 1901) devoted a quite a lot of attention to recent discoveries in the field of ancient history, cultural history and descriptions of foreign countries. This article discusses materials on the ancient Middle East published in both of these periodicals.