The closure of St George's Benedictine convent in Prague Castle in 1782 meant the end of a valuable convent library, whose size and contents we can only conjecture. Hitherto we have been aware of a set of 65 codices to be found for the most part in the Czech National Library fonds with individual items owned by the Prague National Museum Library and the Ősterreichische Nationalbibliothek in Vienna. The aim of this paper is to draw attention to the practically unknown St George codices which the Czech National Library purchased together with the Prague Lobkowicz library. These are four breviaries which were acquired by the Lobkowicz Library in 1835. Summer breviary XXIII D 156 was created before the mid-13th century undoubtedly in the environment of St George's Convent, while the somewhat older Calendarium is evidently not from St George's or of Bohemian origin at all. The winter breviary XXIII D 155 is ascribed to St George's Abbess Anežka (1355-1358). Summer breviary XXIII D 142 was created in 1359 for Sister Alžbeta, the codex decoration is from the workshop of master breviarist Grandmaster Lev. Summer breviary XXIII D 138, which is of artistic and iconographic interest, is the work of four scribes and two previously unknown illuminators.
The library of the Czech historian Tomaš Pešina of Čechorod who lived in the time after the White Mountain is nowadays part of the family library of the Wallensteins which is housed at the castle in Mnichovo Hradiště. This article focuses on the series of chronicles coming from the estate of Pešina and created around the mid 14th century. The codex contains both copies of national chronicles (Chronicle by Bartošek of Drahonice, Chronicle by Přibik Pulkava of Radonin and Old Czech Annals) and chronicles of the Mladá Boleslav Town and Žatec Town.
The library of the Czech historian Tomaš Pešina of Čechorod who lived in the time after the White Mountain is nowadays part of the family library of the Wallensteins which is housed at the castle in Mnichovo Hradiště. This article focuses on the series of chronicles coming from the estate of Pešina and created around the mid 14th century. The codex contains both copies of national chronicles (Chronicle by Bartošek of Drahonice, Chronicle by Přibik Pulkava of Radonin and Old Czech Annals) and chronicles of the Mladá Boleslav Town and Žatec Town.
The Stefanyk Library of the Ukraine Academy of Sciences in Lvov houses the manuscript of a Czech medieval bible under shelf mark 9 O/Н Од. Зб. 3897. This bible was transcribed 1476-1478 by Jan Záblacký, a scribe of whom no details are known, and contains the complete collection of the books of the Old and the New Testaments without prefaces. We know neither the person who ordered the work nor the first owner, unless it was Jan Záblacký himself. Nor can we determine with any accuracy the place where the bible was written, although at the end of the manuscript Záblacký mentions that he completed it on 9th April 1478 in Kamenice, though there are several towns and villages of that name in Bohemia and Moravia. The times recorded by Jan Záblacký for individual books of the bible are of interest and value, as they enable us to reconstruct the rate at which the scribe transcribed the bible text and the average daily amount of text transcribed.
The Stefanyk Library of the Ukraine Academy of Sciences in Lvov houses the manuscript of a Czech medieval bible under shelf mark 9 O/Н Од. Зб. 3897. This bible was transcribed 1476-1478 by Jan Záblacký, a scribe of whom no details are known, and contains the complete collection of the books of the Old and the New Testaments without prefaces. We know neither the person who ordered the work nor the first owner, unless it was Jan Záblacký himself. Nor can we determine with any accuracy the place where the bible was written, although at the end of the manuscript Záblacký mentions that he completed it on 9th April 1478 in Kamenice, though there are several towns and villages of that name in Bohemia and Moravia. The times recorded by Jan Záblacký for individual books of the bible are of interest and value, as they enable us to reconstruct the rate at which the scribe transcribed the bible text and the average daily amount of text transcribed.
This article presents the little known diary entries of the priest P. Václav Vojtěch Berenklau († 1699) primarily from the Kladruby period of his activities (1675-1677). An attempt is also made to compare his diary with a fragment from 1662-1663 of a priest's diary belonging to P. Jan Manner in Prague and the as yet largely unexamined diary specimens from the famous P. Bartoloměj Michal Zelenka from the time he was active in Brandýs nad Labem. In addition to these diaries, the diary is also compared with notes made by the distinguished Baroque preacher and writer O. F. De Waldt.
This article presents the little known diary entries of the priest P. Václav Vojtěch Berenklau († 1699) primarily from the Kladruby period of his activities (1675-1677). An attempt is also made to compare his diary with a fragment from 1662-1663 of a priest's diary belonging to P. Jan Manner in Prague and the as yet largely unexamined diary specimens from the famous P. Bartoloměj Michal Zelenka from the time he was active in Brandýs nad Labem. In addition to these diaries, the diary is also compared with notes made by the distinguished Baroque preacher and writer O. F. De Waldt.
This paper deals with the reconstruction of the now longer preserved gallery of coats of arms at Roupov Castle (District of Klatovy, Western Bohemia) based on manuscripts XVII.A.8 and XVII. E. 28 a from the Czech National Library. Information from individual manuscripts was combined to form an image of probably the largest Czech family coat of arms gallery at the end of the 16th century containing a collection of coats of arms from 270 noblemen and noblewomen. The gallery probands are Jan Nezdický of Roupov († before 1607) and his two wives – Dorota Bezdružická of Kolovraty and Benigna of Švamberk. The paper draws attention to the utilization of hitherto neglected manuscript sources for research into displays of self-awareness among the privileged classes and it attempts to show the way in which the nobility used genealogical and heraldic means for representative purposes. Not least, these manuscripts are often the only source of information on genealogical and heraldic artefacts which are no longer in existence.
The article deals with manuscript XIII G 25 of the National Library of the Czech Republic, which contains an explanation of part of the Book of Psalms (109-118). The explanation is attributed to the Master of the Prague University and preacher in the Prague Bethlehem Chapel Václav of Dráchov (about 1395-1469). The author analyses the contents of the codex, the relationship between it and further manuscripts, its provenience and finally, the research results in this field are summarized.
This article deals with the ex-Capuchin, chaplain and later parson at the Brno parish church of St James, P. Maurus Simonis (*1740-†1815) and his catalogue of the manuscript library which came into being in the Middle Ages, was permanently maintained at the church and only in 1931 did it become a part of the Brno City Archives. The manuscripts – 125 codices – serve as valuable evidence of book culture in medieval Brno. The definitive catalogue was compiled in 1805, while its first "critical" version, which does not include all manuscripts, dates from 1802. On the evidence of numerous specimens, our paper analyses the way of describing of external features – watermarks, writing, decoration and binding – as well as the content of individual codices, and it compares the work of P. Simonis with the previously unofficial conclusions of the modern catalogue which is currently at the printers.