by Peter Demetz
On the express train to Vienna that leaves Prague’s main railroad station at 2:50 p.m., I shared a compartment with three American college kids who spent twelve hours in “wonderful Prague” and are on their way to Venice and two Viennese girls who worry whether the train will arrive in time for them to visit their favorite disco. As the train leaves the station, I tell myself that this cannot have been all, but we are already moving past open fields, and I see dilapidated signs at whistle stops bearing the names of places that were once our destination on summer Sunday excursions, and I know that I shall come back again, that I want to try it once more.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEX
Bibliography
There are ancient chronicles of Bohemian events that tell of many Prague developments, but the first person to undertake a historical study from documents and records was the conservative city archivist Václav Vladivoj Tomek, in his Djepis msta Prahy (Prague, 1855-1901), 12 vols. This magnificent fragment reaches up to the early seventeenth century, and all later writers and historians remain indebted to their predecessor, who also compiled a city topography, Základy starého místopisu Pražského (Prague, 1866-72); he was followed by Josef Teige (ed.), Základy starého místopisu Pražského: 1437-1602 (Prague, 1910-15), 2 vols. In our century the art historian Oskar Schürer published a widely read volume, Prag: Kultur/Kunst/Geschichte (Munich, 1930, 2nd ed. 1934, 3rd ed. 1939), often almost expressionist in tone and particularly attentive to the arts (I prefer the first edition). Other topographies, both old and more modern, include Jaroslav Schaller, Beschreibung der königlichen Haupt- und Residenzstadt Prag (1794-97), 4 vols.; Max Julius Schottky, Prag, wie es war und wie es ist (Prague, 1830-32), 2 vols.; and František Ekert, Posvátná místa hlav. král. msta Prahy (1883-84), 2 vols., a treasure trove of information about churches and monasteries. Hugo Rokyta has reedited his topographical description, Prag (2nd ed. 1995), rich in literary associations. Prague: Eleven Centuries of Architecture: A Historical Guide (Prague, 1992), also available in German and French, was written by a group of learned architects and should please the educated traveler.
Djiny Prahy (1964), under the general editorship of Josef Janáek, shows all the virtues and problems of official Czechoslovak publications of the early 1960s; the historical chapters are instructive, but later segments, covering events after 1900, change into a chronicle of the dominant party; in the short chronology Djiny Prahy v datech (1988) similar reductions can be observed. Other interesting volumes on Prague include, e.g., Valentin Count Lützow, The Story of Prague (London, 1902), and, after World War II and the “Prague Spring” of 1968, Hans Tramer, Prague: City of Three People (New York, 1956), rightly stressing the Jewish heritage; Karel Krejf, Praha legend a skuteností (Prague, 1981); Joseph Wechsberg, Prague: The Mystical City (New York, 1971); and, of course, Angelo Maria Ripellino, Praga Magica (Turin, 1973), which I have discussed in the text. The first Prague tourist guide was written by none other than František Palacký for the noble guests expected to attend the coronation of Ferdinand V (1836). It was edited by Amadeo Molnár and republished, with illustrations, as Skizze einer Geschichte von Prag (1983). Excellent for the siesta, Paul Wilson (ed.), Prague: A Traveller’s Literary Companion (San Francisco, 1995), includes a few classical tales and notable contributions by our contemporaries Ivan Diviš, Ota Pavel, Josef Škvorecký, and Ivan Klíma.
HISTORIES, HANDBOOKS, ANTHOLOGIES
Karl Bosl (ed.), Handbuch der Geschichte der böhmischen Länder (Stuttgart, 1966-70), 4 vols.
Ingeborg Fiala-Fürst, Prag: Ein jüdisches Städtebild (Frankfurt 1992), an anthology of Prague Jewish authors through the ages
Jörg K. Hoensch, Geschichte Bðhmens (Munich, 1987), balanced, with an excellent bibliography
Wilma Iggers, Die juden in Bðhmen und Mähren: Ein historisches Lesebuch (Munich, 1986).
Zdenk Kalista, Struné djiny eskoslovenské (Prague, 1992), a voice long silenced for political reasons
Antonín Mštan, Geschichte der tschechischen Literatur im 19. und 20 Jahrhundert (Vienna and Cologne, 1984) — Bausteine zur Geschicitte der Literatur bei den Slawen, vol. 20.
Josef Mühlberger, Geschichte der deutschen Literatur in Bðhmen 1900-1939 (Munich, 1981).
Jan Mukaovský (ed. in chief), Djiny esk literatury (Prague, 1959-61), 3 vols., comprehensive and official.
František Palacký, Djiny národu eského (Prague, 5th ed. 1965), 5 vols. The quintessential Czech history, and a literary masterpiece that has provided all the following generations with a guiding myth of national self-interpretation.
Tomáš Pêkný. Historie žid echách a na Morav (Prague, 1993), the first comprehensive history in a long time of the Prague and Bohemian/Moravian Jewish communities.
Friedrich Prinz, Deutsche Geschichte im Osten Europas: Bhmen und Mähren (Berlin, 1994).
Robert William Seton-Watson, A History of Czechs and Slovaks (Hamden, Conn., 2nd ed. 1965).
Samuel Harrison Thompson, Czechoslovakia in European History (Hamden, Conn., 1965).
Rudolf Wolkan, Geschichte der deutschen Literatur in Böhmen und in den Sudetenländem (Augsburg, 1925).
My favorite discussions of national problems include Eva Hahnová, Sudetonmecký problem: Obtižné louení s minulostí (Prague, 1996); Jan Ken, Konflikni Spoleenství: eši a Nmci 1784-1918 (Prague, 2nd ed. 1990); Podiven ( - Milan Otáhal. Petr Pithart, and Petr Príhoda), eši v djinách nové doby (Prague, n.d.); Emanuel Rádl, Válka ech s Nmci (Prague, 1928), German translation 1928; Christian Willars, Die böhmische Zitadelle (Munich, 1965); Ferdinand Seibt, Deutschland und die Tschechen (Munich, 2nd ed. 1995); and Elizabeth Wiskemann, Czechs and Germans (Oxford, 1938, 2nd ed., 1967).
1. LIBUSSA, OR VERSIONS OF ORIGIN
What the Schoolchildren Learn
Alois Jirásek’s novels were part of the socialist realist canon just a few years ago and available in many translations, e.g., Bðhmens alte Sagen, trans. by Hans Gaertner (Prague, 1957, 2nd ed. 1975). More recently, Old Czech Legends, trans. by Marie K. Holeek (London, 1972), with a useful introduction. Important general information in Jaroslava Janáková, Alois Jirásek (Prague, 1987), especially on the legends, pp. 237-43.
What Archaeologists and Historians Believe
With rare exceptions, archaeological literature about Prague has been published in Czech or German (occasionally with summaries in English or Russian).
Ivan Borkovský, Levý Hradec (Prague, 1965), and Pražský Hrad (Prague, 1969), both authoritative, with illustrations and German summary.
Francis Dvorník, The Making of Central and Eastern Europe (Gulf Breeze, Fla., 1974), and The Slavs: Their Early History and Civilization (Boston, 1956), are magisterial exceptions.
Jan Filip, Pravké eskoslovensko (Prague, 1948), an older Czech standard text.
Ladislav Hrdlika, “Nástin vývoje reliéfu historického jádra Prahy ve stedovêku,” Archaeologica Pragensia, 5 (1984), 197—209.
Jií Neústupný, Czechoslovakia Before the Slavs (London, 1961)
Luboš Pok, Fraganeo (Prague, 1990), challenging
Hellmut Preidel, Die Anfänge der slawischen Besiedlung Böhmens und Mährens (Gräfelfing, 1954-57), 2 vols , is the standard German text.
Reinhold Trautmann, Die slawischen Völker und ihre Sprachen (Göttingen. 1947), pp. 21-26, still highly instructive.
Rudolf Turek, Cechy na svit djin (Prague, 1963), German edition: Böhmen im Morgengrauen der Geschichte (Wiesbaden, 1974).
The Fortunes of Libussa
Bertold Bretholz (ed.), Cosmae Pragensis Chronaca Bohemorum, (Berlin, 1923) - Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Scriptores rerum Germanicarum, N.S., t. II.
Commentaries on Cosmas: Dušan Teštík, Kosmas (Prague, 1966), and Josef Hemmerle, “Cosmas von Prag,” in Lebensbilder zur Geschichte der böhmischen Länder, 4 (Munich, 1981), 23—48.
František Graus, Lebendige Vergangenheit: Überlieferung im Mittelalter und in den Vorstellungen vom Mittelalter (Cologne and Vienna, 1985).
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sp; Thomas M Greene, Besieging the Castle of the Ladies, Medieval and Renaissance Texts and Studies (Binghamton and New York, 1995), Occasional Papers, No. 4
Vladimír Karbusický, Anfänge der historischen Uberlieferung in Böhmen (Cologne and Vienna, 1980). The new Czech edition, 1995, is still rejected by the old establishment and its young allies.
Plays
Clemens Brentano, “Die Gründung Prags,” in Sämt/iche Werke und Briefe, 14 (Stuttgart, 1980), 501-82, up-to-date critical edition of the text, including important autobiographical comments.
Franz Grillparzer, “Libussa,” in Sämtliche Werke, 2 (Munich, 1961), 257-333, excellent edition, with notes.
2. OTAKAR’S PRAGUE, 880—1278
From Trading Post to Royal Residence
Zdenêk Fiala, Pemyslovské echy: 995—7370 (Prague, 1975). Also “Die Anfänge Prags. Eine Quellenanalyse zur Ortsterminologie bis zum Jahre 1235,” in Giessener Abhandlungen zur Agrar- und Wirtschaftsforschung des europäischen Ostens, vol. 40 (Wiesbaden, 1967), fortunately with an extensive English summary
František Hoffmann, eská msta ve stedovku (Prague, 1992), especially pp. 14—61
Dušan Teštik, Poátky Pemyslovc (Prague, 1981).
The Rise of a King
František Graus, “Pemysl Ottokar II. Sein Ruhm und sein Nachleben,” in Mitteilungen des Instituts für Österreichische Geschichte, 79 (1991), 57-110.
Jörg K. Hoensch, Pemysl Otakar von Böhmen (Graz, 1989), judicious and readable.
Jii Kuthan, Pemysl Otakar II (Prague; 1993), gives particular attention to architecture and the arts.
Václav Novotný, Rozmach eské moci za Pemysla Otakara. 1253-1271 / eské djiny 1/4 (Prague, 1937), essential and still valuable.
Friedrich Prinz, Böhmen im mittelatterlichen Europa (Munich, 1963), pp 7–22
Josef Žemlika, Stoletf posledních Pemyslovc (Prague, 1986).
Franz Grillparzer, “König Ottokars Glück und Ende,” in Sämtliche Werke. 1 (Munich, 1961), 996-1083
The Early Jewish Community and the Prague Tosafists
Bohumil Bondy and Frantisek Dvorsky (eds.), K historii zidù v Cechách, na Morav a ve Stezku: yuo— 1620 (Prague, 1906), early anthology of historical documents, including a full version of the Statuta Judaeorum.
Wilfried Brosche, “Das Ghetto von Prag,” in Ferdinand Seibt (ed.), Die Juden in den böhmischen Landern (Munich, 1983), pp. 87-122, ingenious reconstruction, topographically and sociologically.
H. Gross, “R. Isaak ben Mose Or Zarua aus Wien,” in Monatsschrift für die Geschichte und Wissenschaft vom Judentum, 20 (1871), 241—64.
Peter Hilsch, “Die Juden in Böhmen und Mähren im Mittelalter,” in Ferdinand Seibt (ed.), Die Juden in den böhmischen Ländern (Munich, 1983), pp. 13—26.
Roman Jakobson, “Re a písemnictví eských zid v dobe pemyslovské,” in Ladislav Matjka (ed.), Rok (New York, 1957), pp. 47-58, provocative in the best sense.
Jiina Šedinová, “Alttschechische Glossen in mittelalterlichen hebräischen Schriften und die ältesten Denkmäler der tschechischen Literatur,” in Judaica Bohemiae, 17/2 (1981), 73—89.
H. Tykoczinsky, “Lebenszeit und Heimat des Isaaks Or Zarua,” in Monatsschrift für die Geschichte und Wissenschaft vom judentum, 55 (1911), 478—500.
Hana Volavková, Zmizelá Praha (Prague, 1947), vol. 3: Židouské msto pražské, an important monograph.
J. Wellesz, “Isaak ben Mose Or Zarua,” in Monaísschrift für die Geschichte und Wissenschaft vom Judentum, 48 (1904), 129—44, 209-13, 361—71, 440—56, 710—12.
Czech Saints, Italian Rhetoricians, and German Poets
Anežka Merhautová and Karel Stejskal, Das St. Georgs-Stift auf der Prager Burg (Prague, 1991).
Josef (Cardinal) Beran, Blahoslavená Anežka eská (Rome, 1974), is a biography based on full historical research.
Alfonso Marini and Paola Ungarelli, Agnese di Boemia (Rome, 1991).
Jaroslav Polc, Agnes von Böhmen: 1211-1283 (Munich, 1989).
Kajetán Vyskoil, Legenda Blahoslavené Anežky a tyi listy sv. Kláe (Prague, 1982) is the original text of the legend and four letters to Clara, including philogical commentary.
Patrizia Maria Costa, Guglielma “l’herelica” di Chiaravalle (Milan, 1985).
Ludovica Muraro, Guglielma e Maifreda. Storia di un’eresia femminista (Milan, 1985), ignored by Czech scholars and feminists.
S. C. Wessley, “The Thirteenth-Century Guglielmites,” in Derek Baker (ed.), Medieval Women (Oxford, 1978), pp. 289-303.
J. Novák, “Henricus Italicus und Henricus de Isernia,” in Mitteilungen des Instituts für Österreichische Geschichte, 20 (1899), 253—75.
Hans Joachim Bahr, Literatur und Machlegitimation. Studien zur Funktion der deutschsprachigen Dichtung am böhmischen Königshof des 13. Jahrhunderts (Munich, 1987), a pioneering analysis.
Winfried Baumann, Die Literatur des Mittelalters in Böhmen. Deutsch-lateinisch-tschechische Literatur vom 10. bis zum 15. Jahrhundert (Munich and Vienna, 1978).
Joachim Bumke, Mäzene im Mittelalter. Die Gönner und Auftraggeber der höfischen Literatur in Deutschland (Munich, 1979).
3. THE CAROLINIAN MOMENT
Burghers, Markets, and Cobbled Streets
František Graus, Chudina mstská v dobé pedhusitské (Prague, 1949), appropriately ideological, according to date of publication.
Jaroslav Mezník, Praha ped husitskou revolucí (Prague, 1990), instructive and substantial, German summary.
———, “Der ökonomische Charakter Prags im 14. Jahrhundert,” in Historica, 17 (1969), 5—30.
Prince Václav or, Rather, Charles
Bede Jarrett, The Emperor Charles IV (London, 1935), Catholic viewpoint, readable.
Zdenk Kalista, Karel IV—jeho duchovni tvár (Prague, 1971), the emperor’s spiritual profile by a historian long imprisoned by the Stalinist regime.
František Kavka, Vláda Karla IV za jeho císaství: 1346-1378 (Prague, 1993-95), 2 vols., diplomatic history.
Ferdinand Seibt, Karl IV: Ein Kaiser in Europa (Munich, 1978), judicious recent German standard biography.
Jiri Spváek, Karel IV—život a dílo (Prague, 1980), magisterial view, in fulfillment of State Research Plan VIII-7-214, as the writer says.
Heinz Stroob, Kaiser Karl IV und seine Zeit (Graz. 1990), German counterpart to Kavka (above). Josef Susta, Karel IV (Prague, 1946-48), 2 vols., essential reading.
Gerald Groveland Walsh, The Emperor Charles IV (Oxford, 1924).
Emil Werunsky, Geschichte Karts IV und seiner Zeit (Innsbruck, 1892; recent reprint, New York, 1961), 3 vols.
King Charles, Father of His Motherland/The Founding of the New Town/Charles Establishes His Univereity
Zdenk Bouše and Josef Myslivec, “Sakrální prostory na Karlštejn,” in Umni, 19 (1971), 280—93. Antonín Matjek and Jaroslav Pšina, Czech Gothic Painting: 1350-1450 (Prague, 1950).
Karl Maria Swoboda (ed.), Gotik in Böhmen (Munich, 1969), extensively reviewed by Jaroslav Pšina and four other Czech experts, in Umní, 19 (1971), 358—401.
Karel Stejskal, L‘emperor Charles IV: L’art en Europe en XIVe siècle (Paris, 1980).
Vilém Lorenc, Das Prag Karls IV: Die Prager Neustadt (Stuttgart, 1982), German edition of Czech version (Prague, 1973), essential.
Emanuel Poche (ed.), Praha stedovká (Prague, 1983).
Renate Dix, Die Frühzeit der Prager Universität (Diss., Bonn, 1988).
Jan Havránek and Michal Svatoš, “University Colleges at Prague from the 14th to the 18th Century,” in I collegi universitari in Europa tra il XIV e il XVIII secolo (Milan, 1991), pp. 143—54.
Peter Moraw, “Die Universität Prag im Mittelalter,” in Die Universität zu Prag (Munich, 1986), pp. 10—134.
V. V. Tomek, Geschichte der Prager Universität (Prague, 1849), also in Czech.
Otakar Odložilík, Karlova Universita: 1348-1948 (Prague, 1948), completed before the author left the country.
Michal Svatoš (ed.), Djiny Univerzity Karlovy: 1347/8-16
22 (Prague, 1995), most recent and representative publication, especially important contributions by František Smahel and Jaroslav Kadlec.
The King’s Kitchen Cabinet and the Italian Connection
C. C. Bayley, “Petrarch, Charles IV, and the ‘Renovatio Imperi,’” Speculum, 17 (194
František Michálek Bartoš, “Dantova monarchie, Cola di Rienzo, Petrarka, a poátky reform nás,” Vstník spolenosti náuk, 5 (Prague, 1951), 23.
Thomas G. Bergin, Petrarch (New York, 1970), essential.
Heinrich Friedjung, Kaiser Karl und sein Anteil am geistigen Leben seiner Zeit (Vienna, 1876), early and productive study.
Joseph Klapper, Johann von Neumarkt: Bischof und Hofkanzier (Leipzig, 1964) — Erfurter Theologische Studien, vol. 17.
Paul Piur (ed.), Briefwechsel des Cola di Rienzo (Berlin, 1912-28), 5 vols., grand undertaking, Konrad Burdach collaborating.
