Orbis sensualium pictus

'Orbis Sensualium Pictus' (The Visible World), often referred to as 'Orbis Pictus', was a widely used children's and school book in Europe from the 17th to the 19th century. The work was authored by Johann Amos Comenius, a theologian and educator from Moravia, who also had it illustrated with woodcuts. The first trace of the "little book," as he called it, is a proof print from 1653 featuring Latin texts under the title 'Lucidarium'. The first bilingual edition was published in 1658 in Nuremberg. Now, the work has been released in a carefully prepared multilingual edition by the Czech publisher Machart and is distributed in the German-speaking world. This current edition was created by a team of experts led by Nadežda Kvítková and includes a detailed introduction and commentary on the work. The new edition contains the original Latin texts along with parallel translations into contemporary Czech, German, English, and Russian. An equally important part of the book is the image section, which reproduces the original woodcuts from several historical editions, attempting in an unconventional way to compare the development of visual culture of the respective time. This book should be a staple in every family and school library.