John Miller Burnam Classics Library

Title: Αστραπή (Astrapē).

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Years: 1894-1895.

 

Volumes: 1 (ar. 1-7) - (ar. 121).

 

Frequency: Semimonthly.

 

Editor: Sept. 15, 1894-1897, Vikentios Adamantidēs.

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Publisher: Athens: E.P. Adamantidēs, 1894-97.

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Publication history: Periodos I, etos 1-4; 15 September 1894- 1897. 

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Subject: A reader’s digest – science, history, social issues, tour descriptions, archaeology, folklore, etc.

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Notes:  News articles about various countries, such as China, America, Ethiopia, but also more locally. 

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Astrapē was a biweekly journal that was first published in September of 1894 and which lasted for 4 years until 1897. The annual subscription was 5 drachmas or 7 drachmas for the subscribers abroad. Each subscriber would get a calendar of the year and one free advertising. Also, the subscribers would get the chance to enter a lottery. The interesting thing about the lottery (lacheion tōn archaiotētōn) is the fact that the National Bank was responsible for the lottery. It would give 1/4 of the earnings to the winner and 3/4 would go towards funding archaeological excavations in Greece.

It had a variety of topics, such as tour descriptions, archaeology, science, traditions from Greece and around the word, interesting word news, fun facts, advice about agriculture, gardening, stories, jokes, advertisements.

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Sample ToC (Jan. 1, 1897):

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“Snow is not only white.”

“Crimes and weather.”

“The union of working women in London.”

“The struggle against nature in Denmark.”

“History of horses.”

“The King of vegetal kingdoms."

“The Japanese language.”

“How we can judge long distances.”

“Automatic lighting.”

“White elephants.”

“The cognitive formation of low caste Indians.”

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