One of the initiatives of the Warsaw Society of the Friends of Science aimed at preserving the cultural heritage of the Polish nation included the issue of a collection of Polish historical songs. The first such initiative was put forward by the Jesuit Jan Paweł Woronicz in 1803.

Initially, members of the Society of the Friends of Science (TPN) thought that a collection of historical songs should be created following the example of religious songs available to the public. As other projects of this type undertaken when Poland lost its independence, the idea of TPN members was to preserve Polish identity. It was believed that a collection of songs praising the country’s rich history would help preserve the image of Poland’s past. The plan was to compile the songs into a comprehensive work tentatively called the “Five Books”.

The best songs were written by the playwright and novelist Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz. There were 33 of them in total, and they were popular among the Polish elite also because, prior to their publication, Niemcewicz had had the opportunity to present them at various Warsaw salons. He called the collection of several pieces “Historical songs”. After writing, in 1811, work began on composing music to them to ensure that the planned publication would take on a professional character, that is, it would also include music notes. Both professional musicians and talented non-professionals worked on this aspect. As for the illustrations, they were drawn up almost exclusively by noblewomen who had a talent for painting.

Prepared on a grand scale, Niemcewicz’s work required a great deal of money. The illustration plates were engraved in Dresden and the paper was imported from Berlin. In the meantime, the political situation in the central Polish territories had changed as from 1815, on the basis of the Congress of Vienna, sometimes referred to by Polish historiography as the Fourth Partition of Poland, the Russians gained power, creating the Kingdom of Poland.

The first edition of the Songs was published in 1816 and numbered 1,500 copies. As the publication was immensely popular, a second and, in 1819, a third edition soon followed. The success of Niemcewicz’s work is also evidenced by the fact that it became a textbook in provincial schools. Prince Adam Czartoryski, commenting on their phenomenon, stated: “They could not spread among the common people and be understood by them…, but they had a most beneficial effect on the upper and middle classes. In salons, in boudoirs, with beautiful ladies, the ‘Songs’ lay among the exquisite items; the ladies learnt them by heart and thus learnt national history”.

Soon the importance of this work was also realised by the invaders. As early as 1826, the Russians issued an order to remove the “Historical Songs” from the school libraries of the Kingdom of Poland, causing them to become a textbook on Polish history in home teaching.