A selective catalogue of the manuscript collection of the monastic library was compiled after the dissolution of the Premonstratensian convent at Chotěšov in the spring of 1782, during the period of the Josephine reforms, which brought an end to the activities of contemplative orders.
Manuscripti Codices – Catalogus Bibliothecae Monasterii Cotieschoviensis
Archive of the National Library of the Czech Republic, Collection of the Public and University Library in Prague (1522) 1777–1918 (1919), Premonstratensian Nuns of Chotěšov
A selective catalogue of the manuscript collection of the monastic library was compiled after the dissolution of the Premonstratensian convent at Chotěšov in the spring of 1782, during the period of the Josephine reforms, which brought an end to the activities of contemplative orders.
When monasteries were being dissolved, the provincial commissioners were instructed to carry out a thorough inventory of all property, including library and archival holdings, to which particular attention was paid.
The document on display records a selection of manuscripts from the Chotěšov library designated for transfer to the University Library in Prague (now National Library of the Czech Republic). For each title, the author, if known, is listed, together with a brief title, date, and the size or number of volumes.
The catalogue represents valuable evidence of the systematic and deliberate confiscation of monastic libraries during the Josephine reforms, while also serving as an important source for identifying volumes from the Chotěšov convent that are now preserved in the collections of the National Library of the Czech Republic.
