This is a translation from Latin, probably a work by Pietro Perondini, who was especially active in the 1550s and 60s. “History of Tamerlane” was translated into Czech by the humanist Bartolomej Macer of Letosice.
Today, only three copies of “History of Tamerlane” are extant and kept in the libraries of Prague. Moreover, only one of them contains a full text. This copy is owned by the National Library of the Czech Republic. The other two copies, with some missing pages, are in the National Museum Library (Knihovna Národního muzea) and in the library of the Strahov Monastery of the Order of the Premonstratensian monks (Královská kanonie premonstrátů na Strahově). Only the translation of “History of Tamerlane” has survived from the literary heritage of Bartolomej Macer, although the fruits of his work were definitely much greater. Interestingly, in the history of Czech literature there are two more personalities with the surname of Macer of Letosice. They were the art philanthropist and lawyer Peter Macer and the religious emigrant Sebestian Macer, who both lived in the 17th century. However, their possible relation with Bartolomej cannot be confirmed.
The Czech translation of “History of Tamerlane” is dedicated to the knight Kaspar Kaplir of Sulevice. The dedication of a published book to famous personalities in those days was a tradition. The writers of that time could thus be recognized by the public and, most importantly, receive a financial reward instead of an author’s fee. The dedication of the book includes an image of the family coat of arms and an accompanying poetic text in Latin. “History of Tamerlane” was published by the Czech printer Jiri Cerny, also mentioned in the Latin version under the name of Jiri Nigrin. In the late 16th – early 17th centuries, his printing house was one of the most productive and well-known in Prague. Since the beginning of his printing career in 1571 until his death in 1606, he published more than 600 works in Czech and other languages. His printed products, especially books in Latin, were characterized by high-quality printing and rich illustrations accompanying the text. The artistic level of the printing design of publications in Czech was generally not very high. They were primarily intended for readers from the lower level of Czech society. Nigrin printed many copies, which were cheap. “History of Tamerlane” is one of such publications targeted on broad public.
Through a combination of fictional storytelling and professional interpretation of historical facts, the book introduced Czech burghers to the story of Amir Timur, an eminent medieval eastern statesman and commander. In addition, the content of this book was close to the anti-Turkish theme popular in the European literature at that time. Fierce battles and other events described in the book aroused great interest in readers.
You can learn more about the topic in the book-album "The Collection of the Czech Republic" (Volume XVI) in the series "Cultural Legacy of Uzbekistan in the World Collections".
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