Bohemian (Cech) Bibliography: A finding list of writings in English relating to Bohemia and the CechsCapek, Thomas
History
Bohemian (Cech) Bibliography: A finding list of writings in English relating to Bohemia and the Cechs
Capek, Thomas
Bohemia (Czech Republic) -- Bibliography
Some of the greatest writers of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries
were members of the Unity: John Augusta (1500-1572, Bishop and writer),
John Blahoslav (1523-1571), collaborator on the _Kralice Bible_, author
of _Grammatika Česká_, Charles, Lord of Žerotín (1564-1636), John Amos
Komenský. The Unity reformed schools and promoted literature by setting up
printing shops in Bohemia and Moravia. Toward the close of the fifteenth
century a printing shop was opened in Mladá Boleslav; in the first part of
the sixteenth century another was established at Bělá, near Bezděz, and
still another at Litomyšl. The last named town was, up to 1547, looked
upon as the chief seat of the administration of the church. Because of
persecution, the Unity transferred its centre to Přerov in Moravia. Here
too, it set up printing establishments, the one at Ivančice becoming
in time far-famed. In 1578 the Ivančice concern was moved to Kralice
(Moravia).
By common consent, the _Kralice Bible_, so called from Kralice, where it
was printed, is regarded as the most enduring literary work of the Unity.
For fourteen years eight eminent scholars worked on this Bible, rendering
the translation into a language idiomatic, and pure beyond that of any
other book. It was published between the years 1579-93, and Lord Žerotín
bore the expense of it. The British Bible Society in publishing a Bohemian
Bible followed exactly the edition of 1613.
The New York Lenox Library, which is now a part of the New York Public
Library, owns: 1. A complete set of the _Kralice Bible_; the sixth volume,
however, is of a later edition. 2. Two copies of the _Prague Bible_. 3.
One copy of the _Paul Severín of Kapí Hora Bible_ of the edition of 1537.
The _Kralice Bible_ was bought by Lenox, the founder of the Lenox Library,
from the collection of the Duke of Sussex.[8]
[8] See article _Moravští Bratři v Americe_ by Thomas Čapek, _Osvěta_,
Prague. 19:565-72. 1889.
JOHN AMOS KOMENSKÝ. John Amos Komenský (or Comenius, which is the
Latinized form of the name), one of the great figures in Bohemian history,
was born in 1592 in Moravia, (hence the suffix “Moravus” seen on some of
his works) and died as an exile in 1670 in Holland.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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