Oskar Kolberg moved to the vicinity of Cracow in 1871. Firstly he stayed in Mogilany with Józef Konopka; later in Modlnica, the second manor which belonged to the Konopka family. In the second place he resided for about a dozen years, and the assistance of Józef Konopka and Antonina Konopczanka made it easier for Kolberg to collect material for other volumes of the monograph of this region. Kolberg took advantage of the friendly and calm atmosphere. He cut himself off from the outside world and focused entirely on his job. In 1884 he moved out to Cracow. This allowed him to have direct contact with the Academy of Arts and Sciences and people who helped him with publishing of ‘The People’.

The manor in Modlnica was run by Antonina Konopczanka and Julian, siblings of Józef Konopka. Antonina was one of the closest co-workers of Kolberg. She would collect and send him ethnographic and folkloric material from Modlnica and its vicinity. She had contact with the workers of the manor; thus she could collect the material everyday while she accompanied the informants during their job. Her work resulted in creating the original diary entitled ‘Raptularz Antoniny Konopczanki’ [The diary of Antonina Konopczanka]. It includes interviews with the inhabitants of Modlnica and nearby villages, who give accounts of local folktales, fairy tales, beliefs and superstitions. The text was edited by Kolberg and included in the monograph of the Cracow region. Unfortunately, today some parts of the diary are lost.