Staročeské biblické předmluvy

Biblical prologues, i.e. introductions to biblical books, were a common part of the Latin Vulgate in the Middle Ages. The author of most of these explanatory or defensive texts is the ecclesiastical writer Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus (St. Jerome, around 347-420). In a limited number of cases, the prologues became part of the earliest translation of the entire Bible into Czech, which dates back to the early 1450s. In connection with the compilation of a new version of the old Czech translation of the Bible, a complete translation of more than a hundred prefaces was probably made around 1400. Throughout the 15^th century, these prefaces were selectively included in copies of the Old Czech Bible and, together with its text, were subject not only to scribal errors but also to deliberate alterations; some prefaces were translated repeatedly.

The publication presents a critical edition of 124 old Czech biblical prefaces, both texts translated from Latin and several original Old Czech prefaces composed by unknown scholars involved in the translation of the Bible into Czech in the 14^th and 15^th centuries. Each preface is preceded by information about its occurrence in Old Czech sources and about the Latin version. The text itself is annotated, including the identification of quotations from the Bible and from other authorities, and including various readings from all identified copies of the preface. The edition is prefaced by a comprehensive study of the old Czech translation of the biblical prologues and the explanation of the decoration of the prefaces in old Czech biblical manuscripts, documented by selected pictorial examples. An essential part of the book are the indexes and appendices, which, in addition to the inventories of Latin and Czech prologues, contain, among other things, the most complete list of Old Czech biblical sources to date.