PREFACE
It is to me a subject of great satisfaction that a new edition of my Bohemia: An Historical Sketch—first published in 1896—should be required. The study of Bohemian history is very important, as that history is closely connected with the present political situation of the Austro-Hungarian empire, and with the demand for autonomy raised by the Bohemian people at the present time. Without at least a slight knowledge of Bohemian history it is impossible to understand the foundation of this demand, and the contemptuous silence with which it is often treated in Western Europe is largely founded on ignorance.
Of late years historical study has made rapid progress in Bohemia, and a considerable number of statements and appreciations contained in the first edition of this work have had to be altered. All interested in Bohemian history are greatly indebted to the valuable studies published in the Česky Casopis Historicky (Bohemian Historical Review), which is so ably edited by Professors Goll and Pekář. Though much new light has been thrown on the past of Bohemia, no new history of the country superseding Palacký's monumental work has appeared. Recent research had indeed proved that the work of Palacký—to whom many now accessible documents were unknown—is not free from mistakes, yet it still remains precious. Professor Rezek's plan of continuing Palacký's history, which ends in 1526, up to 1620, and perhaps even further, remained unfulfilled in consequence of the illness and subsequent death of that brilliant historian. Professor Bachmann[1] has recently published a history of Bohemia. Written in German, it is more accessible to English readers than books written in the national language of Bohemia. The work is, however, imbued with a fierce hostility to the Bohemian nation, and should be read with great caution. While I have been able to introduce considerable alterations and, I hope, improvements into this new edition of my book, I have also made two important changes in the structure of my work. In the first edition of Bohemia: An Historical Sketch, the last chapter contained a brief account of Bohemian literature. I had not, fourteen years ago, given to that interesting subject the amount of study which I have devoted to it of late years. The result of these studies is contained in my History of Bohemian Literature.[2] This work can be considered as super-
- ↑ I have briefly reviewed Professor Bachmann's work in the English Historical Review for July 1906.
- ↑ 1st ed. 1899, 2nd ed. 1907.
A2
