Abstract:
The anniversary of the Reformation brought about several editorial projects in 2017, which made several sources connected to this significant event available to today’s readers. They can serve as an inspiration for editing local sources and, at the same time, as a commitment to implement similar projects in Slovakia as well.
Cithara Sanctorum (CS) is our largest and, at the same, most published hymn book for centuries. It is a voluminous work by Georgius Tranoscius who completed it in his last station, in today’s Liptovský Mikuláš. The hymn book was published in Levoča by Vavrinec Brewer. It had been used in divine services until the 20th century and had dozens, or even hundreds, of editions. Current bibliographical research is aware of 215 editions. The aim of this study is to point out the possibilities of reconstructing the Cithara Sanctorum, and the perspectives of its reconstruction. The scrutiny of this source would move hymnological research forward not only in Slovakia but also in the entire Central European region. The first step should be making the hymn book available in the form of its modern edition. Although there is a rich reservoir of sources, the availability of its earlier editions is problematic.