Bohuslav Balbín

Bohuslav Balbín (1621–1688) Balbín was a man of extraordinary learning and insight. His extensive literary work includes the first comprehensive natural history of the Kingdom of Bohemia. It is of interest to zoologists, botanists, geologists, landscapists and amateurs looking for entertainment and education alike. 

Bohuslav Balbín`s father, Lukáš Balbín, knight of Vorličná, died a year after his son`s birth. Bohuslav was brought up at the castle in Častolovice where he lived with his mother and other family members supported by a family friend, Otto of Oppersdorf. He took a great liking to the small and inquisitive Balbín, taking him on regular hunting and fishing trips, which determined Balbín`s further interest in nature. His mother and grandmother introduced him to the secrets of botany.

Balbín received his education in the Jesuit order, where he spent his entire life as a missionary, preacher, teacher and writer. During his relatively long life he travelled to many places in Bohemia and Moravia and met many important figures of the time, such as the physician and naturalist Jan Marek Marci.

After many journeys, Balbín settled permanently in Clementinum College in Prague in 1676 and wrote the monumental work Miscellanea historica regni Bohemiae for the rest of his life, the first volume of which is conceived as a natural history of the Kingdom of Bohemia. (Reports on Moravia are, as the title of the work suggests, not much represented. The natural history of the Moravian land was only elaborated by Balbín`s pupil Tomáš Pěšina from Čechorod in his work Mars Moravicus.) Balbín also considers dragons, ghosts and various apparitions to be natural curiosities; he writes, for example, about the occurrence of Rýbrcoul (Krakonoš) in the Krkonoše Mountains. In his work he describes with great care the geological and hydrological conditions of Bohemia, and with great interest he describes the deposits of precious stones. He also observes forests, wild and cultivated plants, gardens and fields, fish and fish farming, birds and game. Balbín applies a vast empirical and encyclopaedic knowledge in his work, and also uses numerous quotations to prove his knowledge of the classics. He describes a wealth of data on ecology, ethology and the geographical distribution of species (including breeding in the reserves). The reader-friendliness of his work also lies in the fact that he follows the Renaissance tradition and sees in nature a symbolic and mythical-religious dimension. For example, he describes the eyes of the Bohemian waxwing as being of the colour of Bohemian garnets or sees a clear connection with the Emperor and King Leopold I in the L-shaped patterns on wings. 

Balbín`s work is the first systematic treatise on nature in Bohemia. In the 18th century Jean Baptist Boháč also wrote a book on Czech natural history, but unfortunately it has not survived. Balbín was surpassed only in the 19th century (e.g. by Antonín Frič and other naturalists) and is still a source of information for researchers and curious amateurs today.

Bohuslav BALBÍN: Rozmanitosti z historie Království českého. Academia: Praha, 2017. Překlad a editace textu: Jiří ČEPELÁK, Stanislav KOMÁREK, Václav CÍLEK a Roman FIGURA 

Engraving of Bohuslav Balbín from 18. century (Author: free license)