Polish Ordinary Mercury. When was the first Polish newspaper published?
“Merkuriusz Polski Ordinary”, and get: “Merkuriusz Polski, the history of the whole world, closed to common information” to the oldest Polish newspaper. It was first published on January 3, 1661. Its commissioning on July 15 of the same year after the release of 41 issues.
The beginnings of the Polish press
The beginnings of the Polish press belong to calendars and the so-called volatile prints. The calendars contained information about saints, various tips and curiosities. The leaflets contained information about the life of the court, as well as news about current political events or the situation on the battlefields.
In 1660, to Dworzec King John Casimir come up with an idea to create a periodical magazine. Be the initiator of the creation of the newspaper the king’s wife, Queen Marie Louise Gonzaga. In this way, on January 3, 1661, the first issue of the “Merkuriusz Polski” newspaper was published. The editorial of the first issue began with the words: “This one is, so to speak, the only source of human nourishment, to know and know as much as possible: this is what it feeds on, what it enjoys, what it is satisfied with.”
“Merkuriusz” is the first newspaper in the world whose aim was to influence public opinion on the political agenda – in “Merkuriusz” only theses were “smuggled” that supported the kingdom, the court headed by the king. One of them was custom liberum veto or coronation vivente rege, that is, the coronation of the heir during the lifetime of the reigning monarch. Together with Merkuriusz, a newspaper transmitting information from Poland abroad was punished, entitled “Continuazione del Mercurio Polacco”. Its content, however, differed from that of “Mercurius”.
Texts in “Merkuriusz” were edited by a Pole of Italian descent, Hieronim Pinocci and Jan Aleksander Gorczyn (Kraków printer).
The first issue of the newspaper was entitled “Merkuriusz Polski”. From this number, “Ordinary” was added to the name. Some issues were punished under the sign “Merkuriusz Polski Extraordinary” if they contained any additional materials. The last issue, dated July 15, 1661, bore the child “Merkuriusz Ordinary This Is News From Various Countries”.
“Merkuriusz” punished once or twice a week with a circulation of 100-200 copies. It was about 8-12 pages and 10 groszy. The editorial office of the newspaper in force in Warsaw, and from the 38th issue it was transferred to Krakow. The newspaper covered topics such as the life of the court, official matters, signed international treaties or the situation on war fronts from all over Europe.
The name “Mercurius” comes from the Roman god Mercury pays him for the patron of merchants and couriers. This name was also given to newspapers in other countries, including in England (“Mercurius Aulicus” or “Mercurius – Britannicus Communicating the Affairs of Great Britain: For the Better Information of the People”).
The first newspaper in the world
The first newspapers in the world were published in 1609. They were “Ralation”, which was punished in Strasbourg, and “Aviso” from Wolfenbüttel. The first daily newspaper appeared a bit later, in 1650 in Leipzig.
In lower Poland, the first newspaper was the “Wöchentliche Zeitung” from 1618 in Gdańsk. The development of periodicals in the middle of the 18th century. In Poland, from 1792, “Nowiny Polskie” (with domestic news) and “Relata Refero” (with foreign news) were published. later they were renamed “Kurier Polski” and “Kurier z Cudzych Krajów”. The first newspaper with a circulation of 1 million copies was the French daily “Le Petit Journal” in 1890.
The word “newspaper” probably comes from Italian newspaper, a term for a small coin that was minted in 17th-century Venice. Word gazza also means the magpie whose drawing is featured in Italian newspapers. The magpie symbolized talkativeness and the transmission of gossip.
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