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12
Nov

An Early Printed Book from the Town Museum and Gallery Polička

The Town Museum and Gallery Polička has provided access to a printed book from 1576 (K 355). It is Kancionál český, a Czech Hymnbook or a Book of Evangelical Spiritual Songs by Jakub Kunvaldský, with adjoined Nešpor český, a Czech Book of Vesper Prayers Consisting of the Psalms of David by the same author. The beginning and end of the printed book have not been preserved and have been complemented by hand; further manuscript additions include A Song about the Prophetess Sibylla and other excerpts at the beginning of the volume.

12
Nov

Printed Books and Manuscripts from the National Library of Medicine in Prague

Most of the recently digitised documents from the National Library of Medicine in Prague comprise printed theses defended at the Faculty of Medicine of the Prague university between 1682 and 1749. The manuscripts are represented by a medical anthology from the 18th century (T 277), including recipes, descriptions of the medicinal effects of plants, a treatise on bloodletting and other texts, and by a veterinary anthology from the 17th–18th centuries (T 333).

12
Nov

Manuscripts and Printed Books from the Museum of the Jindřichův Hradec Region

The Museum of the Jindřichův Hradec Region provided access to six manuscripts and four early printed books in 2018. The manuscripts contain Czech- and German-language prayer books from the second half of the 18th century. A part of them are handwritten copies of printed books, with some even having their scribe or the place of their later use listed. The digitised printed books comprise collections of German prayers by Martin of Cochem and their Czech translations. The oldest of them comes from the printing workshop of Marie Barbora Svobodová from 1738, while the other three were editions were printed by Hynek (Ignác) Vojtěch Hilgartner in Jindřichův Hradec in the second half of the 18th century.

10
Sep

Medieval Manuscripts from the National Library of the Czech Republic

The National Library of the CR has provided access to some medieval manuscripts. The oldest of them comes from the 12th century, but most of them were not written until the late Middle Ages. In terms of content, the works include the Bible and its exegeses (those whose authors have been identified comprise e.g. the manuscript III.F.18 by Nicholas of Lyra or the concordance of the Gospels by Mikuláš Biskupec of Pelhřimov in III.F.5), but also patristic and medical works (the extensive compendium by Gilbert of England in III.H.20), preaching, legal and ancient literature (Ovid’s works in III.H.24a–III.H.24c). Some manuscripts are interesting not only for their content but also for their information on former owners: the owner of the codex III.G.1 was Vojtěch Raňkův of Ježov, who had probably acquired it during his work in Paris; the manuscript III.E.34 is one of the few manuscripts that have been preserved from the library of the Reček College (Collegium sanctissimae Mariae) of the Prague university.

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