[7] Published between 1856 and 1903,[3] it first appeared in Lyck, East Prussia and targeted Russian Jews, but was soon redistributed all over Europe and the Jewish world.

[3] Although it only had a peak circulation of 1,800 copies, it's primarily remembered as beginning the modern day Hebrew language press.

[7] A frequent contributor to the weekly was Moses Vita Ascarelli; under the pen name, "Emet le-Ya'akov," he wrote articles on the condition of Italian Jews under Pope Pius IX.

[3][7] After the death of his father, Dov Gordon continued as editor until 1890,[7] until Yaacov Shmuel Fux took over, who edited between 1890 and 1903[7][2] and whose sole focus was on cultural and political issues, and not social issues as previous editors had focused on, in the footsteps of Zilbermann.

[7] Post-1892, Hamagid found itself largely supplanted by other Hebrew language newspapers like Ha-Melitz and Ha-Tsfira.