Portal:Czech literature

The Strahov Library in Prague

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

Božena Němcová, a Czech writer and poet of the 19th century.

Jaroslav Seifert, poet and writer and 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)

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)
• 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)
  • Fame by Svatopluk Čech, translated by Paul Selver (1920)
• in Short Stories from the Balkans (1919), edited and 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)
• 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

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
• 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
  • Spectre's Bride by Karel Jaromír Erben
  • Parallel by Ferdinand Písecký
  • Slovak Rhapsody by Karel Dostál-Lutinov
• 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
• 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

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
• 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
• The Last Will and Testament of the Dying Mother The Unity of Brethern (1650) by Johan Amos Comenius, translated by Wikisource
• 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)
• The Jail (1918), by J. V. Machar, translated by Paul Selver (1921)
• Letters from England (1924), by Karel Čapek, translated by Paul Selver (1925)
• How a play is produced (1925), by Karel Čapek, translated by Percy Beaumont Wadsworth (1928)
• Diary of a Prisoner in World War I (2012), by Josef Šrámek, translated by Tomáš Svoboda

Works on Czech literature

• Czech and Slovak literature in English (1988) by George J. Kovtun (transcription project)
• "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)
• "On Hašek's The Good Soldier Švejk, lecture by Ian Johnston (2007)

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