Hospodářské zápisky Josefa Prusinovského z Holešova (1776-1803)

The senior guildmaster of the shoemakers' guild of Holešov (East Moravia) Josef Prusinovský (1754-1829) in the last quarter of the 18th century used the free space in the octavo, otherwise containing reproduction of the period calendars (astrological texts and medical, veterinary and administrative instructions), for recording his chronicle and administrative records. He describes the key events of his life in the second half of 1770s (the entry into the guild, the attribution of family homestead, his courtship and marriage, the illness of his mother, the death and burial of his parents) in his personal notes. The collection is completed by the chronological summary of the births of his nine children. The following administrative records chronicle his enterprise activities in the sheep breeding in the 1790s. They illuminate the specific position of an artisan living a country town at the end of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th century. They allow a view into the many forms of the management on other than own land, the mechanism of the farm animals breeding in the time period and possibly an example of a contemporary agricultural venture. An additional note shows that the manuscript was inherited by the oldest son of the testator. However, he moved from Holešov to an unknown location. The family memory was weaker during the following generations and even the records of the family doyen fell into oblivion. When the folio became part of the collection in the Southeast Moravia Museum in Zlín, the described stories were restored by combination of selected indicia with the archival records.