Page:Guide to the Bohemian section and to the Kingdom of Bohemia - 1906.djvu/95

75 afterwards Senior of the Unity, a great savant of the XVI century, the author of a greek grammar, an eloquent preacher, several times the ambassador of the Unity to the emperor Maxmillian II. and to the german Reformers, a man of fine tastes and the best musician of his time.

The Hymnal of Evančice, printed 1564, is a reprint of the Hymnal of Šamotuly, surpassing the first edition in every regard. Many pages are printed in red a black. The ornaments and engravings are new (one dated from 1563). Within the ornaments, embellishing all the pages of the book, are often seen the coats of arms of the noble members and protectors of the Unity. Another reprint of this hymnal was published in 1576, also in folio and was carried to a still higher degree of perfection, being a veritable edition de luxe. Equally splendid is the folio-edition of Králice 1581.

In the famous printing-office of Králice are printed the four following editions:

The Hymnal of Králice dating from 1594, in qu.; with an engraving of John Huss before the Index.

The Hymnal of Králice dating from 1598; in qu.

The Hymnal of Králice dating from 1615; in folio; this edition is rearranged both in text and in music. The last part of it contains „Psalms“, put in verse by brother Streyc to Goudimel’s tunes. Before the Index there is an old engraving otof [sic] Huss.

The Hymnal of Králice dating from 1618; in qu, a reprint of the preceding hymnbook.

The Psalms or songs of St. David by Jiří Streyc, is a separate edition of the above mentioned Psalms. It is a third edition with tunes since 1596. Streyc was the pastor of the Brethren-congregation in Židlochovice, Moravia, and put his helpful hand to many an important work of the Unity. He translated the Psalms from the Hebrew and followed Salzmann. The book was printed also in Králice.

The last Hymnbook of the Unity is Kancyonál of J. A. Komenský (Comenius), in small oct., published in 1659 in Amsterodam; it is entirely rearranged and revised; regarding the text it is one of the best bohemian hymnbooks. Remarkable is its preface, containing an essay on the hymnsinging. The small size of the book was undoubtedly chosen for the reason, that the book might be more easily