A History of Bohemian LiteratureLützow, Francis, hrabe
History
A History of Bohemian Literature
Lützow, Francis, hrabe
Czech literature -- History and criticism
Adam Daniel Veleslavin, born in 1545, studied at the University of
Prague, and took his degrees there. He afterwards for some time
lectured on history at that university, but after his marriage in
1576 to the daughter of the celebrated printer and publisher, George
Melantrich, he became a partner in the business of his father-in-law.
In this capacity he greatly furthered the development of Bohemian
literature, and it is due to him that many books in that language
were printed. Thoroughly acquainted with the art of writing his own
language, he thoroughly supervised all the books that issued from
his press, and, as Dr. Jireček writes, there is not one of them that
doesn't show traces of having been corrected by him. He was occupied
with lexicographic works in his own language, and with translations
from other languages. Of his many works we may mention his _Politia
Historica_, a translation, or rather adaptation, of the vast German
work of Lauterbeck, which is entitled _Das Regentenbuch_, and his
translation of the work of Ænæas Sylvius on Bohemia, which, in spite of
its hostility to their country, greatly interested the Bohemians. The
preface to this edition, Veleslavin's own work, contains an interesting
account of the early historians of Bohemia.
Of his mainly philological works, Veleslavin's _Silva Quadrilinguis_
and his _Nomenclator Quadrilinguis_ are the most important; both
contain alphabetic vocabularies of the Bohemian, Latin, Greek, and
German languages. The works issued from the Veleslavin press are so
numerous that it seems certain that he had many collaborators in his
critical work. Bernard of Hodijov and William Ostrovecký are specially
mentioned as having acted as "sub-editors" to the works published by
Veleslavin. Though he appears to have by no means been a man of genius,
the influence of Veleslavin on Bohemian literature was very great, and
it was an undoubted loss to the country that he died prematurely in
1599.
The son of Adam Daniel, ADAM SAMUEL VELESLAVIN was born in 1592,
only seven years before the death of his father. In his youth he was
involved in the domestic quarrels and civil war which troubled Bohemia
in the years 1618 to 1620. He was an enthusiastic adherent of the
"Nationalist" party, to use a modern expression, and was obliged to
fly from Bohemia after the fatal battle of the White Mountain. We
have no record of him from the time that his exile began. His fortune
was confiscated by the triumphant Catholics, and his printing-presses,
which he had inherited from his father, were made over to the Jesuits.
He had up to the downfall of Bohemian independence continued the
editorial labours of his father, and had completed the publishing of
several works begun by him. He also published in 1613 an edition of
the Bible dedicated to the "defenders," that is, the leaders of the
Protestant movement.
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