Athenaeum (Russian magazine)

The draft publication of the magazine was implemented under strict censorship after the suppression of the uprising of 1830-1831 . Krashevsky received permission to publish the magazine only in the summer of 1840. Krashevsky contacted the Vilnian publisher Theofil Glucksberg, who was responsible for contacts with censorship and for the delivery of books and magazines from abroad. Many correspondents sent their works to Glucksberg, or less often to Jozef Kraszewski in Gorodok , hoping to see them published. In exchange, Krashevsky pledged to prepare six ten-sheet volumes for publication.

Having invited all domestic writers and historians to cooperate, Jozef Kraszewski made Athenaeum the center of literary life in Belarus , Lithuania and Ukraine . Subscription points, except the main one in Vilnius , were in Kiev , Lviv , Krakow , Poznan , Warsaw , Wroclaw and others. Jozef Kraszewski, without leaving his estate Gorodok in Volyn, with the help of several writers edited the magazine and sent it to the publisher Theofil Glucksberg in Vilna. Over 8 years of collaboration with Glucksberg, 48 volumes have been published. However, due to a decrease in the number of subscribers (from 252 in 1843 to 163 in 1846 ^[2] ), Glucksberg demanded that Athenaeum increase the number of entertainment materials, which Krashevsky did not agree with. Since 1849, he began cooperation with the Vilnius . Their publisher published another 18 issues of the magazine. However, the irregularity of its release led to a further decrease in the number of subscribers - in 1851 only 122 copies were sold. In the same year, the last issue of the magazine was published.

The magazine was beyond competition among publications of that time both in circulation and in the quality of materials. With the start of lively discussions on serfdom, Athenaeum was widely known for its liberal stance.

The first section, “History,” was always interesting in Athenaeum. These are numerous documents of the XIII — XVIII centuries, scientific works on a historical theme, reviews. Among the authors of this section was . A significant part was occupied by the literary section. Works by Krashevsky himself, Mikhail Grabovsky , Stanislav Reitan, Alexander Groza , Casimir Buinitsky , Henrik Zhevusky , Józef Kozhenevsky , Ludwig Stürmer , Vladislav Syrokomli , Adam Plow , Jan Barshevsky , , , , Lada-Zablotsky and others painted domestic landscapes and domestic heroes. The third section - “Art” - contained articles about composers and artists, notes from exhibitions, and the “Criticism” section reviewed new books, collections, almanacs, and reviews of European literature from foreign magazines. Sometimes the Philosophy section appeared, where Hegel's translations and the conservatively pro-Catholic works of Eleanor Zemenskaya were eclectically combined. There was also a section "Miscellaneous".

Belarusian subjects in the Athenaeum were allocated only occasionally - in addition to documents in the Western Russian language, the Belarusian language appeared on the pages of the magazine only once - in an article by Romuald Zenkevich “Songs of the Pinsk People”. Apart from Lithuania and Lithuanian ideology, only Ukraine was widely reflected in the magazine: many correspondents, like Jozef Kraszewski himself, lived there. There were very few correspondents from geographical Belarus.

• Athenaeus or Athenaeus // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : 86 t. (82 t. And 4 ext.). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
• Ateneum Wileńskie Czasopismo naukowe, poświecone badaniom przeszlości ziemz WX Łitewskiego. Wilno, 1923. Rok 1, t. 1, S. 1.
• Ethnographic Belarus: Encyclapedia / Red .: I. P. Shamyakin (gal. Red.) І інш. - Мn .: BelSE, 1989.
• Józef Bachórz, Alina Kowalczykowa. Słownik literatury polskiej XIX wieku. - Zakład Narodowy im. Ossolińskich - Wydaw., 2002. - ISBN 83-04-04616-4
• Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Nauk w Wilnie. Wydział III Ateneum Wileńskie. Czasopismo naukowe, poświęcone badaniom przesłości ziem WX Litewskiego. - Wilno: 1923 T. 1.