The library of the Order of St Augustine in the Lesser Town of Prague, comprising more than 18,000 volumes, is an extraordinary book set of significant scientific and historical value. Nevertheless, a scientific study that would cover the entire history of the library was not available until now. This article provides a brief outline of the history of the monastic library at St Thomas, mentioning some remarkable figures that have contributed to its prosperity. The introductory part brings information on the binding rules governing the librarian practice in the monastic libraries of the Order of Saint Augustine in the Middle Ages. Because of the long time span, this treatise has been divided into two parts – the medieval and modern history of the library. Particular attention is paid to two periods – the 14th and 18th centuries, during which some members of the Order held leading positions at the university in Prague and, through their pastoral, preaching and educational activities, they were actively involved in the social, cultural and spiritual edification of broad social classes.
This study focuses on the early modern history of the monastic library of the Order of St Augustine at St Thomas in Prague. On the basis of archival sources (monastic chronicles, the catalogue of the members of the Order) and research into provenances in extant collections, this paper primarily aims to map the development of the Augustinian library in the 16th and 17th centuries. Provenance research has discovered that the monastic library was mainly used for monastic studies and for preaching and pastoral activities of the Augustinians. The research into book provenances has revealed numerous personal ties between the Lesser Town Augustinians and people at the court of Rudolph II. The results of the archival and provenance research have not confirmed the hypothesis of the complete looting of the library at the end of the Thirty Years’ War, but neither have they clearly proved the true extent of the losses suffered by the library. The research has shown the primary role of the library within the Order of St Augustine in the Czech lands and has indicated the position of the library in a broader social and cultural context., Veronika Sladká., and Obsahuje bibliografické odkazy
Although Basel book printing had a major influence on the development of humanistic studies in the 16th century, its import into the Czech lands has not been studied so far. This study explores books printed by a famous printer Johann Froben (ca. 1460–1527), and their representation in selected Czech and Moravian libraries. Using methods of provenance research, I have identified specimens that arrived in our territory not long after their printing, paying a special attention to the titles created by people from the circle of the University of Basel. My research has shown that although Czech students rarely attended Basel University until the mid-16th century, works by Basel University scholars from Froben printing house were available in Bohemia and Moravia as early as in the second and third decade of the 16th century. Furthermore, the books printed by Froben penetrated much better into the Catholic regions of Bohemia and Moravia, more open to modern humanistic studies.
The paper reconstructs the fate of a codex from the library of Matthias Corvinus, King of Hungary and Bohemia, which is in the possession of the National Library in Prague now. From the middle of the 16th century, it was deposited at Uhrovec Castle in Slovakia, which belonged to the Zay family; at the end of the 17th century, it was moved to Bohemia – first to the library of the de Suys family at Kounice Castle, later to the castle of the Thuns in Choltice, from where it was donated to the Capuchin monastery in Prague-Hradčany in the 1720s. and Obsahuje obrazovou přílohu