Some Lithuanian periodicals date back to the Polish-Lithuanian period and are, accordingly, largely in Polish, the oldest being the political weekly Kurier Litewski (1760-63, Vilnius), resumed in 1797 and as of 1834 in Russian; it was followed by the Kurier Wileński (Polish-Russian between 1841 and 1865, then in Russian until its demise in 1915). Important literary periodicals were Wiadomości Brukowe (1816-22, Vilnius), Dziennik Wileński (1805-06, 1815-30, Vilnius), and Tygodnik Wileński (1815-22, Vilnius), which published Lithuanian folk songs. After the 1831 rising, almanacs were allowed to be published, which included important sections on Lithuanian literature, folklore, and history: Biruta (1837-38, Vilnius; also contained poetry on Lithuania) and Linksmynė (1841, Vilnius).
Periodicals in the Lithuanian language were better established in East Prussia, beginning with Nusidavimai Dievo karalystėje (1823-25, Tilsit; compilations from Königsberger Missionsblatt), followed by Nusidavimai apie evangelijos praplatinimą tarp žydų ir pagonių (1832-34, 1837-1914, Königsberg). Other important periodicals were Keleivis (1849-80, subsidized by the Prussian government and continued as Naujasis keleivis, 1880-83) and the newspaper Lietuvißka ceitunga (1877-1940, Memel), which in 1880-82 also published articles from Lithuania Major by activists like Basanavičius. There were also a few short-lived periodicals such as Lietuviškas prielaiškis, Lietuvininkų prietelis, Klaipėdos ceitunga.
In the Russian-governed lands of Lithuania Major, there were also unsuccessful attempts to launch periodicals in Lithuanian: Aitvaras (1857, Vilnius), Pakeleivingas (1859, Varniai), and the government-supported Lithuanian/Belarusian newspaper Drug naroda (1863, Vilnius).
Meanwhile, there was an ongoing tradition of popular calendars published in Memel, Vilnius, and Tilsit; and important publisher being Laurynas Ivinskis (1810–1881). The first calendar in Lithuanian was Metu skajtlus ukiszkas (1846, Vilnius), renamed as Kalendorius arba Metskajtlus ukiszkas (printed in Cyrillic after 1865).
In 1864, the Russian authorities imposed a ban on printing Lithuanian in Latin letters; it lasted until 1904. On the one hand, this sparked a lively contraband traffic in books smuggled in from Lithuania Minor; that manifestation of grassroots literacy and defiance of the authorities has become a nationalist lieu de mémoire in Lithuanian historical consciousness. Simultaneously, there were some attempts to circulate non-“printed”, manuscript and hectographed periodicals: Kalvis melagis (1875-76, St Petersburg) and Aušra (1880-81, Moscow). In addition, opportunities were explored to publish Lithuanian newspapers outside Russia.
These attempts culminated in the establishment of Auszra/Aušra (“The dawn”) in Ragnit, East Prussia, near Tilsit (where it moved in 1886). The key instigator, Jonas Basanavičius, had previously explored publishing possibilities in Sofia, Belgrade, and Prague in 1883. Its purpose was stated in its first editorial: to encourage love for fatherland and the native language, the basis of national identity. Over its 40-year career, it drew most of its writers (40%) from the Suvalkai district (the north-west of Russian-governed Lithuania Major), and had an important consciousness-raising function, although some Catholics, such as Antanas Baranauskas, had reservations. Catholic nationalists had a forum in Tėvynės Sargas
An important cultural platform alongside Aušra, and dedicated, like it, to the spread of nationalist ideals, was the monthly Varpas (1899-1905), edited by Vincas Kudirka on behalf of the Warsaw Lietuva society (itself founded in 1888) and published in Ragnit, later Tilsit. Its focus was on practical rather than cultural or literary topics.
Other periodicals sprang up from the mid-1880s onwards, largely published from Tilsit or the nearby village of Bitėnai, home to the patriotic printer Martynas Jankus. In addition, by the end of the century, more than 30 Lithuanian periodicals were published in the United States, providing nationalist debating platforms for or against Polish-Lithuanian unity (for: Gazieta lietuviška, 1879-80; against: Unija, 1884-85) and catering for the emergence, which by 1900 was gaining considerable momentum, of a nationally-minded Lithuanian public sphere irrespective of territorial divisions.
