Portal:Czech literature

The Strahov Library in Prague

Jan Hus, priest, philosopher and church reformer of the early 15th century

Johan Amos Comenius, writer and educator of the 17th century

Božena Němcová, writer and poet of the 19th century

Jan Neruda, writer and poet of the 19th century

Jaroslav Vrchlický, writer and poet of the 19th century

Otokar Březina, poet of the end of the 19th and early 20th century nominated several times for the Nobel Prize in Literature

Karel Čapek, early 20th century writer nominated several times for the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, politician, philosopher and writer, founder and first president of Czechoslovakia

Jaroslav Hašek, satirist, anarchist and WWI soldier, author of the most translated Czech novel

Jaroslav Seifert, poet, the first and only Czech to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature

Works

• Stilfrid and Brunswik (14th century) by anonymous author, translated by Albert Henry Wratislaw (1879)
• The Labyrinth of the World and the Paradise of the Heart (1631, enlarged 1663) by Johan Amos Comenius, translated by František Lützow (1901)
• The Grandmother (1851), by Božena Němcová, translated by Frances Gregor (1891)
• Maria Felicia (1870), by Karolina Světlá, translated by Antonie Krejsa (1898)
• Newton's Brain (1877), by Jakub Arbes, translated by Josef Jiří Král (1892)
• A Tale of Young Blood of '48 (1877), a novella by Alois Jirásek, translated by Matthew Špinka (1919–1920)
• "Heavens!" (1880), by Alois Vojtěch Šmilovský, translated by Václav Emanuel Mourek and Jane Mourek (1894)
• Magdalen (1893), by J. V. Machar, translated by Leo Wiener (1916)
• Krakatit (1922), by Karel Čapek, translated by Edward Lawrence Hyde (1925)
• The Absolute at Large (1922) by Karel Čapek, translated by Šárka B. Hrbková (1927)
• The Good Soldier: Schweik (1921–3) by Jaroslav Hašek, translated by Paul Selver (1930)
• An Anthology of Czechoslovak Literature, edited and translated by Paul Selver (1929)

Short stories

• Three Stories, by Vítězslav Hálek, translated by Walter William Strickland (1886)
• Our Grandfather, by Vítězslav Hálek, translated by Walter William Strickland (1887)
• Four Japanese Tales, by Jan Havlasa (1919)
• Czechoslovak Stories, edited and translated by Šárka B. Hrbková (1920)
• Selected Czech Tales, edited and translated by Marie Busch and Otto Pick (1925)
• Money and other stories, by Karel Čapek, translated by F. P. Marchant, D. Round, F. P. Casey and O. Vočadlo (1929)
• Halek's Stories and Evensongs, by Vítězslav Hálek, translated by Walter William Strickland (1930)

Short stories in more general anthologies or in magazines

• in Poet Lore
  • Under a Bush of Lilacs by Jakub Arbes, translated by Josef Jiří Král (1892)
• in The International
  • Phenicia's Sin by Julius Zeyer, translated by Frances Gregor (1896)
  • A Pawned Character, by Svatopluk Čech, translated by Rose M. Humpal (1896)
  • The Lamp, by Ferdinand Schulz, translated by Frances Gregor (1897)
  • St. Nicholas, by Božena Viková-Kunětická, translated by Frances Gregor (1897)
  • Old Foltyn's Drum, by Svatopluk Čech, translated by Vlasta Charlotte Kozel (1899)
• in The Czechoslovak Review (The Bohemian Review) (1917–1924), edited by Jaroslav František Smetánka
  • The Diary of a Reporter by Jan Neruda, translated by Guido Bruno (1917)
  • Foltýn's Drum by Svatopluk Čech, translated by John Hulla (1919)
  • The Man Who Published Poems by Svatopluk Čech, translated by Paul Selver (1919)
  • Fame by Svatopluk Čech, translated by Paul Selver (1920)
  • Eyes of Sapphire by Anna Maria Tilschová, translated by Libuše A. Breuer (1920)
• in Short Stories from the Balkans (1919), translated by Edna W. Underwood:
  • Brother Cœlestin by Jaroslav Vrchlický
  • The Journey by Svatopluk Čech
  • All Souls' Day by Jan Neruda
  • Foolish Jona by Jan Neruda
• in Anthology of Modern Slavonic Literature in Prose and Verse (1919), edited and translated by Paul Selver
  • Sonia by Josef Svatopluk Machar
  • The Vampire by Jan Neruda
  • The Advent of Spring in the South⁠ by Arne Novák
• in Famous Stories from Foreign Countries (1921), edited and translated by Edna W. Underwood:
  • The Exchange by Svatopluk Čech
  • Abisag by Jaroslav Vrchlický
• in World Fiction
  • The Apple Tree by Svatopluk Čech, translated by Šárka B. Hrbková (1922)
• in The Dial
  • The Injured One by Karel Čapek, translated by P. Beaumont Wadsworth (1923)
• in The Best Continental Short Stories (1924–1927), edited by Richard Eaton
  • The Imprint by Karel Čapek
  • Severus by Josef Čapek
  • Warming Up by Fráňa Šrámek
  • Golden Autumn by Marie Majerová
  • Geese by Božena Viková-Kunětická
  • The Godfather's Present by František Xaver Šalda

Fairy tales and folk tales

• Segnius Irritant: or Eight Primitive Folk-lore Stories (1896), retold by Karel Jaromír Erben, translated and commented by Walter William Strickland
• Czech Folk Tales (1917), edited and translated by Josef Baudiš
• Czechoslovak fairy tales (1919), retold by Parker Fillmore
• The Shoemaker's Apron (1920), retold by Parker Fillmore
• The Disobedient Kids and other Czecho-Slovak fairy tales (1921) retold by Božena Němcová, translated by William H. Tolman and Václav Smetánka
• A Forest Story (1923) by Josef Kožíšek, translated by Rafael De Szalatnay (1929)
• The Magic Flutes (1927) by Josef Kožíšek, translated by Clara Vostrovsky Winlow (1929)
• The Shepherd and the Dragon by Božena Němcová, translated by Eleanor Ledbetter (1930)
• Portal:Libuše

In more general anthologies

• in Slavonic Fairy Tales (1874), edited and translated by John T. Naaké:
  • Lidushka and the Water Demon's Wife retold by Matěj Mikšíček
  • Golden Hair retold by Karel Jaromír Erben
  • Yanechek and the Water Demon retold by Josef Kajetán Tyl
  • The Wise Judgment retold by Josef Košín z Radostova
  • The Long-desired Child retold by Karel Jaromír Erben
  • The Wicked Wood-Fays retold by Karel Jaromír Erben
  • Wisdom and Fortune retold by Karel Jaromír Erben
  • The Brownie, or House Spirit retold by Karel Jaromír Erben

In magazines

• in The Czechoslovak Review:
  • Fairy Tale About a Prince and Three Journeymen (1919) by Václav Tille
  • The Twelve Months (1919) retold by Božena Němcová

Plays

• Petr Vok Rozmberk (1880) by František Adolf Šubert, translated by Beatrice M. Měkota
• The Awakening (1882) by František Adolf Šubert, translated by Beatrice M. Mekota
• At the Chasm (1887) by Jaroslav Vrchlický, translated by Charles Recht
• The Vengeance of Catullus (1887) by Jaroslav Vrchlický, translated by Charles Recht
• Jan Výrava (1886) by František Adolf Šubert, translated by Šárka B. Hrbková
• The Great Freeholder (1891) by František Adolf Šubert, translated by Beatrice Machula Mekota (1924)
• The Four Bare Walls (1893) by František Adolf Šubert, translated by Beatrice M. Mekota and Francis Haffkine Snow
• The Witness (1894) by Jaroslav Vrchlický, translated by Charles Recht
• The Will o' the Wisp (1896) by Jaroslav Kvapil, translated by Šárka B. Hrbková
• Raduz and Mahulena (1896) by Julius Zeyer, translated by Zdenka Buben and George Rapall Noyes
• Dobromila Rettig (1900) by Alois Jirásek, translated by Bernice Heřman and George Rapall Noyes
• The Clouds (1903) by Jaroslav Kvapil, translated by Charles Recht
• June (1905) by Fráňa Šrámek, translated by Paul Selver
• The Lantern (1905) by Alois Jirásek, translated by Zdenka Buben and George Rapall Noyes
• Whom the Gods Destroy (1907) by Jaroslav Hilbert, translated by Charles Recht
• The Pistol of the Beg (1911) by Karel Matěj Čapek-Chod, translated by Emanuel D. Schonberger
• The Solstice (1912) by Karel Matěj Čapek-Chod, translated by Emanuel D. Schonberger
• The Ninth Night (1914) by Viktor Dyk, translated by Cyril Jeffrey Hrbek
• R. U. R. (Rossum's Universal Robots) (1921) by Karel Čapek, translated by Paul Selver
• 'And so ad infinitum' (The Life of the Insects) (1922) by Brothers Čapek, translated by Paul Selver
• The Makropoulos Secret (1922) by Karel Čapek, translated by anonymous
• The Land of Many Names (1923) by Josef Čapek, translated by Paul Selver
• Adam the Creator (1927) by Karel Čapek and Josef Čapek, translated by Dora Round

Poetry

• Cheskian Anthology (1832), edited and translated by John Bowring
• Bohemian Poems, Ancient and Modern (1849), edited and translated by Albert Henry Wratislaw
• The Queen's Court Manuscript with Other Ancient Bohemian Poems (1852), collection of allegedly medieval Czech poetry, later proved to be 19th century literary hoaxes. Edited and translated by Albert Henry Wratislaw.
• Hanuman (1894), by Svatopluk Čech, translated by Walter William Strickland
• Bohemian legends and other poems (1896), edited and translated by Flora Pauline Wilson Kopta
• An Anthology of Modern Bohemian Poetry (1912), edited and translated by Paul Selver
• Songs of the Slav (1919), edited and translated by Otto Kotouč
• Modern Czech Poetry (1920), edited and translated by Paul Selver
• Evening Songs (1920), by Vítězslav Hálek, translated by Josef Štýbr
• An Anthology of Czechoslovak Poetry (1929), edited by Clarence Augustus Manning
• The Conversion of St. Vladimir by Karel Havlíček Borovský, translated by Ernst Altschul (1930)
• Tyrolean Elegies by Karel Havlíček Borovský, translated by Roderick Aldrich Ginsburg (c1932)
• May by Karel Hynek Mácha, translated by Roderick Aldrich Ginsburg (1932)
• Satanella by Jaroslav Vrchlický, translated by Roderick Aldrich Ginsburg (1932)
• The Soul Of A Century (1943), edited and translated by Roderick Aldrich Ginsburg
• A Book of Czech Verse (1958), edited and translated by Alfred French

Poetry published in more general anthologies and in periodicals

• Poems of Czech authors in Poet Lore:
  • Songs of the Slave, in vol. 27, no. 1 (1916) by Svatopluk Čech
  • Evening Songs, in vol. 27, no. 6 (1916) by Vítězslav Hálek
  • On Golgotha, in vol. 28, no. 4 (1917) by Josef Svatopluk Machar
• Poems of Czech authors in Anthology of Modern Slavonic Literature in Prose and Verse (1919)
• Poems of Czech authors in The Czechoslovak Review (1917–1924):
  • 70,000 by Petr Bezruč
  • You and I by Petr Bezruč
  • Where have I heard? by Otokar Březina
  • Nature by Otokar Březina
  • Springtime fancies by Svatopluk Čech
  • The grave in the forest by Svatopluk Čech
  • Slovak Rhapsody by Karel Dostál-Lutinov
  • Spectre's Bride by Karel Jaromír Erben
  • The Golden Spinning Wheel by Karel Jaromír Erben
  • Christmas Eve by Karel Jaromír Erben
  • The Water King by Karel Jaromír Erben
  • Stefanik by Antonín Klášterský
  • Parallel by Ferdinand Písecký
  • A Selection of Contemporary Czech Poetry
• Poems of Czech authors in Czecho-Slovak Student Life (1927–1931)
  • Oh, if ... by Jaroslav Vrchlický
  • "My Mother" by Otokar Březina
• Poems of Czech authors in European Elegies (1928):
  • Death by Jaroslav Vrchlický
  • To-morrow by Robert Lev Novák
  • Written in a new cemetery by Josef Kálal
  • In a cemetery by Jaroslav Havlíček

Librettos and lyrics

• Ye Soldiers of our God (Ktož jsú boží bojovníci, 15th century) by Jan Čapek
• Kde domov můj (1834) by Josef Kajetán Tyl
• The Bartered Bride (1866), Karel Sabina's libretto of the opera by Bedřich Smetana

Non-fiction

• Letters of Jan Hus, (1408–1415, multiple editions)
• On The Spiritual Battle, 1421 by Petr Chelčický, translated by Charis Enns
• Concerning War and Cities, extract from Postilla by Petr Chelčický (c. 1435), translated by Paul Selver
• Adventures of Baron Wenceslas Wratislaw of Mitrowitz (1599) by Václav Vratislav z Mitrovic, transl. by Albert Henry Wratislaw
• School of Infancy (1632) by Johan Amos Comenius
• Bequest of the Dying Mother of the Unity of Brethren, short extracts from the 1650 book by Johan Amos Comenius, translated by Paul Selver
• Seven Years in South Africa by Emil Holub, translated by Ellen Elizabeth Frewer (1881)
• A Selection of Bohemian National Embroidery from Náprstek's Bohemian Industrial Museum by Jan Koula, translated by Jane Mourek (1893)
• Bohemian-American Cook Book (1904), by Marie Rosická, translated by Rose Rosicky (1915)
• T. G. Masaryk and the Idea of European and World Federation (1953), by Petr Zenkl, translated by Vlasta Adele Vraz (1955)
• Diary of a Prisoner in World War I (2012), by Josef Šrámek, translated by Tomáš Svoboda

Essays

• The Smiles of The Time by Otokar Březina (1897), transl. by Stanislav Václav Klíma (1920)
• The Meaning of the Struggle by Otokar Březina (1907), transl. by Jaroslav Císař (1918)
• The Present Age by Otokar Březina (1908), transl. by Paul Selver (1929)

Feuilletons

• Are the Angels Women? (1888) by Jan Neruda, translated by F. P. Casey (1929)
• Jail (1918), collection of feuilletons by J. V. Machar, translated by Paul Selver (1921)
• A Call on Masaryk, by anonymous (1919)
• Letters from Italy (1923), collection of feuilletons by Karel Čapek, translated by Francis Petherick Marchant (1929)
• Letters from England (1924), collection of feuilletons by Karel Čapek, translated by Paul Selver (1925)
• How a play is produced (1925), by Karel Čapek, translated by Percy Beaumont Wadsworth (1928)
• Cats (1925) by Karel Čapek, translated by Dora Round (1929)

Works on Czech literature

• The Native Literature of Bohemia in the Fourteenth Century by Albert Henry Wratislaw (1878)
• "Czech literature," in The New International Encyclopædia, New York: Dodd, Mead and Co. (1905)
• "The Language and Literature of Bohemia" by Cyrill Spal in Bohemian Section at the Austrian Exhibition, Earl's Court London 1906
• "Modern Bohemian Poetry" by Paul Selver in An Anthology of Modern Bohemian Poetry (1912)
• "Czech Literature," in Catholic Encyclopedia, (ed.) by Charles G. Herbermann and others, New York: The Encyclopaedia Press (1913)
• "The language and literature of Bohemia" by Cyrill Spal in Bohemia's claim for freedom (1915)
• "Bohemia's Contribution to Literature" by Jaroslav Josef Zmrhal in Bohemia; a brief evaluation of Bohemia's contribution to civilization (1917)
• Otakar Březina: A Study in Czech Literature, by Paul Selver (1921)
• A Short Survey of Czech Literature, by František Chudoba (1924)
• Czech Literature Before Hus, by Zdeněk Salzmann (1961)
• Czech and Slovak literature in English (1988) by George J. Kovtun (transcription project)

Articles in journals

• "Národopisný Věstník Českoslovanský" by Leonard Cyril Wharton in Folk-Lore, 22 (4) (1911)
• "Recent Work in Slavonic Folklore" by Leonard Cyril Wharton in Folk-Lore, 27 (3) (1916)
• "Czech Folk-Tales" by Leonard Cyril Wharton in Folk-Lore, 30 (3) (1919)
• "Prague Letter" by Percy Beaumont Wadsworth in The Dial, Series 3, 73 (December, 1922)
• "Prague Letter" by Percy Beaumont Wadsworth in The Dial, Series 3, 75 (July, 1923)
• "Prague Letter" by Otokar Fischer in The Dial, Series 3, 75 (December, 1923)

• Portal:Krakatit
• Portal:The Makropoulos Secret

See also

• Portal:Czech lands