Sheet Music from the National Library of the Czech Republic

The National Library of Technology digitised ten printed books and their binder’s volumes in 2017. The works were printed in the 18th century – mostly in Germany, but also in Poland and Switzerland; the earliest digitised printed book is a part of the work Elementa matheseos universae by Christian Wolff, printed in Geneva in 1735. Besides mathematics, also natural-science treatises as well as practical guides (astronomy, geometry, surveying, accounting, etc.) are represented.

Another 22 manuscripts, mostly from the beginning of the 19th century, have been digitised from the collections of the Music Department of the National Library. All of these documents form part of the set of the Mozart Memorial, which was established in the National Library in 1837 as the very first Mozarteum in the world. It contains a representative selection of Mozart’s work, especially historically important copies and the first printed editions.

The Museum of the Bohemian Paradise (Český ráj) in Turnov has digitised the Bible printed by Jacques Sacon in Lyon in 1513 (Inv. No. HST 3089). Its text with indices, prologues and other accompanying texts is decorated with numerous woodcuts and initials, which are mostly coloured. An unknown user has also added in hand a list of periscopes and an alphabetical index of the incipits of the Psalms.

The Museum of West Bohemia in Pilsen has provided access to its coloured atlas of towns in the area of the present-day Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and France with their coloured engravings, published in Amsterdam in 1657.

From the collections of the Ethnographic Museum and Gallery in Česká Lípa, 33 early printed books were digitised in 2017. Some of them became part of the holdings of this institution with the collection of a remarkable collector, Bohumil Malotín. In terms of content, it is a varied set of entertaining, educational and moral-educational literature, prayers, songs and other texts coming mostly from the 18th century, even including some unique items.

In 2017, the first two manuscripts from the library of the monastery in Vyšší Brod were digitised. This monastery was founded by Vok of Rožmberk in 1259 and its library still contains works from its entire development, including the codices that were brought by the first monks from the mother monastery in Wilhering, Austria. Information on the content of the library at the end of the 13th century is provided by the incomplete list of books that is recorded in one of the Vyšší Brod codices and that is one of the oldest preserved in the Czech lands. Despite the number of manuscripts covering the entire existence of the monastery, which ranks the Vyšší Brod collection among exceptional ones in Bohemia, the medieval as well as later history of the library has only been devoted limited attention in scientific literature. From the monastic library, access has been provided to two manuscripts, shelf marks XXXVII and 8b. The first one is an illuminated prayer book from the Franco-Flemish area or Burgundy, written in the first half of the 15th century. The second codex is mainly known to German Studies scholars. It is the so-called Hohenfurter Liederbuch (Vyšší Brod Songbook), which was written around the middle or after the middle of the 15th century, contains 81 German spiritual songs and is one of the most important works of medieval German literature deposited in the Czech Republic.

From the collections of the Regional Museum in Teplice, an Utraquist gradual from 1560 (MS 1) and a hymnal from 1566 (MS 2) have been digitised. Both manuscripts were procured for the literati brotherhood at the parish church of St John the Baptist in Teplice and were written in the Prague workshop of Jan Táborský from Klokotská Hora. They were decorated by the leading illuminators of the time: Fabián Puléř and Matouš Ornys of Lindperk. Unlike other, similar works, both manuscripts still contain also texts and depictions related to John Hus and his feast day.

In 2017, the Museum of the Jindřichův Hradec region provided access to a total of 16 manuscripts and early printed books from its collections. The manuscripts comprise a smaller part of the collection – they include works of medicine, wedding speeches and prophecies written in the 18th century. On the border between the two groups, there is an album amicorum of Johann Hegenmüller, who had his Stammbuch records, including the accompanying decoration, written in the printed book Emblematum liber by Andrea Alciato. With a few exceptions, the early printed books represent the Czech- and German-language production of printers in Jindřichův Hradec in the 18th century. Some of the digitised volumes come from the property of the provost of Jindřichův Hradec Vojtěch Juhn (1779–1843).

In 2017, the Regional Museum in Louny digitised six manuscripts and three early printed books. In terms of its content, the set of manuscripts is homogeneous – they are all Czech-language prayer books (exceptionally complemented by Germans sections) from the second half of the 18th century and the first third of the 19th century; some of them even contain the exact date of origin and personal notes by their owners. According to the records available, all the printed books (shelf marks S 117, S 5275 and S 7724) are single copies.