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11
May

The Cheb Chronicle of Johann Thomas Funk

The German Chronicle of the City of Cheb (Chronik der Stadt Eger) from the collections of the Historic Cheb Endowment Fund was digitised in 2021. It was written shortly before the middle of the 18th century by the mayor of Cheb Johann Thomas Funk. The chronicle covers the period until 1743. Its main source was an earlier chronicle of Salomon Gruber.

12
Mar

Manuscripts of the National Library of the CR

The digitisation of the collections of the National Library of the CR continued with more manuscripts. Access has recently been provided, for example, to a binder’s volume of computist texts, a part of which was copied by the later university master Petr from Dvakačovice, called Bibat (shelf mark VG14), after leaving Prague; a collection from the property of another master of the university of Prague, Ioannes Andreae de Praga, called Schindel, including i.a. a work by Petrarch (V.G.12); and other volumes with theological content.

11
Feb

Medieval Manuscripts from the National Library of the Czech Republic

The systematic digitisation of the manuscripts from the National Library continued with codices from the shelf marks V.E–V.G. The oldest digitised manuscript is a medical collection of Southern-European origin copied in 1288 (V.F.19), which was owned in the 15th century by Šimon of Slaný. The other codices come from the Czech lands in the 14th–15th centuries. A part of them was demonstrably used in school instruction, but for some, it is impossible to decide whether it was at the university or lower schools. This group comprises, for example, commentaries on grammar textbooks (V.F.3, V.F.28), interpretations of Aristotle’s works (V.E.8, V.E.13), records of medical university lectures (V.E.21) and an astronomical volume (V.G.18). The other digitised works include sermons and preaching aids (e.g. V.E.25, V.F.8, V.F.26) as well as theological literature; the set of dictionaries in V.E.18 is interesting for Germanists.

2
Dec

Medieval Manuscripts from the National Library of the Czech Republic

The digitisation of the manuscripts from the National Library continued mainly with volumes from the shelf mark V. The oldest digitised manuscript, V.D.20, was copied in the 13th century; it contains the lives of saints. The other codices date from the 14th and 15th centuries. A larger group consists of volumes associated with the university of Prague. These include, for example, philosophical lectures given at its Faculty of Arts (V.E.4c); in 1479, the astronomical volume V.E.4b, containing, among others, the work of Christian of Prachatice, was copied at Reček’s College of the university of Prague; some of the codices come from other university colleges – Charles College and the College of the Bohemian Nation. The medical collection V.C.20 contains the initials of its former owner, the master of the university of Prague Jan Ondřejův, called Šindel. Most codices comprise theological works; exegeses of the Bible are represented, for example, by the works of Hugh of Saint-Cher, Nicholas of Lyra, and another lecturer at the university of Prague, Johann of Lübeck (V.D.14); two manuscripts contain the popular grammar book Derivationes by Hugh of Pisa. Texts of ecclesiastical law are numerically less represented: one manuscript includes a part of the Bible; various sermon collections or individual sermons are more abundant. In 1376, the chronicle of Sicard of Cremona was copied into the codex V.D.16; its later user supplemented it with notes concerning the Czech lands as well. The astrological volume XXIII.D.132 comes from the collections of the former Prague Lobkowicz Library; some of its texts were copied and annotated by the scholar and diplomat Nicholas of Cusa.

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