Abstract
The article deals with the early modern manuscripts from the field of natural philosophy, hermetism and natural sciences that were found within the inventory work on the Repertorium rukopisů 17. and 18. století z muzejních sbírek v Čechách [Inventory of the 17th and 18th Century Munuscripts from the Museum Collections in Bohemia]. These manuscripts prove the influence and reception of the mentioned sciences in early modern Bohemia - and that often also outside the Prague centre, and hence represent an interesting source for the intellectual history of the Czech lands.
The attention of the study is focused chiefly on hermetic (especially alchemistic) manuscripts. Since there was no sharp dividing line between hermetism and other fields in the period concerned, however, the author in the first part of the article first deals with these boundary, border areas, which he tries to typify.
This leads to a crystallisation of three typical areas in which hermetic sciences blend with other disciplines, specifically the area of natural philosophy, the nascent modern natural sciences and medicine, or pharmacy. Each of these areas is documented by examples of individual manuscripts.
In the second part, the author's attention is already focused on a closer presentation of three selected, clearly alchemistic manuscripts: 1) a Czech collection of alchemist recipes and instructions compiled by an unknown scribe at the end of the 17th century from the Regional Museum in Chrudim, 2) an anthology of the copies of German translation of various hermetic treatises (i.a. by N. Flamel) from the beginning of the 18th century from the Czech Museum of Silver in Kutná Hora, 3) a codex of the copies of works of the so-called Fr.
Basileus Valentinus, made in Police nad Metují in 1736-1737 from the Town Museum in Nový Bydžov.