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- General Laudon Exhibition
- Field Marshal Laudon Library
Field Marshal Laudon Library

Part of the library of this famous military leader was placed in the exhibition of General Laudon in the Visitor Center Nový Jičín. It consists of approximately a little over a thousand volumes. Some of them were marked by the general with his supralibros, i.e. with a coat of arms embossed and gilded on the binding, and some of them also bear his personal signature.
The books date from the 17th and especially the 18th century, from the time of his life. They are bound in leather or half-leather bindings, often with gilded ornaments on the spines. Most often we come across books in German and French, then in Italian or English. It is not surprising that their content is often militaria, i.e. books about military affairs, war operations, the construction of fortresses, etc. Another frequent topic is contemporary politics, history, law, and sometimes also travelogues.
From history
General Gideon Ernest owned the Bečváry castle in 1763-1776 and gathered a professional library there, which he was helped to create by the German poet Christian Fürchtegott Gellert (1715-1769), whom the general met in Karlovy Vary. The famous poet noted "I had to establish a library for him because he regretted that he could not study in his youth." The library contained fiction, philosophy and law in addition to military literature. After the sale of the castle, the library was probably moved to the Austrian Hadersdorf castle and later became the basis of the Loudon library at the castle in Bystřice pod Hostýnem.
Bystřice pod Hostýnem castle was purchased in 1650 by Jan of Rottal. In 1650-1673 his library was located here, but its further fate is unknown. Bystřice pod Hostýnem was inherited by Johann Nepomuk (1765-1827), son of Jenofefa (1741-1810) married to (August) Emanuel Count Wengersky (1727-1768), who decorated the castle, established a park there and devoted himself to music. In 1805 he accepted the title of "Montelabate". He was a deputy of the Moravian Provincial Assembly and died childless. He built a library in the Bystřice castle, the contents of which are reported in the early 19th century catalogue "Catalogue de la Bibliotheque du Monsieur le Comte Jean Wengersky – Montelabate Seigneur de Bistritz".
It is a local catalogue (the order is according to cabinets, rows and order on the shelf) with an author index, the descriptions include the title, author, place and year of publication, and the format of the book. This catalogue contains almost 700 titles, of which over 100 are in Italian, mostly fiction, poetry and theatre, over 360 French titles - novels, printed correspondence, history, philosophy and natural sciences, and over 220 German titles. These include history, hunting, encyclopedias, ancient authors, travelogues, natural science and gardening. At the end of the catalogue is a list of about 30 maps and plans. The vast majority of books were printed in the 18th or early 19th century, only a few in the 17th century, one title dates from the 16th century. A number of books (about a quarter) became part of the Loudon library, but it was probably a targeted selection. Several records have a pencil note "Loudon", several others have a note "Vetter". It is not clear where the remaining books went. It is possible that this collection was damaged in the castle fire in 1833. Count Wenger did not mark his books in any way, only one book with his signature has survived in the current Bystřice library.