HANKA, Wexceslaus or Waklaw (1791-1861), a Bohemian philologist, was born at Horeniowes, a hamlet of eastern Bohemia, on June 10, 1791. He attended the village school in winter only, being occupied during the summer on his father’s farm. While still young he acquired a knowledge of Polish and Servian from some soldiers billeted in the neighbourhood, and in 1807 he was sent to school at Königgrätz, to escape the conscription. Proceeding then to Prague, he engaged in the study of philosophy, and founded a society for the cultivation of the Czech language. At Vienna, where he afterwards studied law, he established a Czech periodical; and in 1813 he made the acquaintance of Dobrowsky, the emi nent philologist. On September 16, 1817, Hanka made the discovery of some ancient Bohemian manuscript poems of the 13 th and 14 th century in the church-tower of the vill ιge of Kralodwor, or Königinhof. These were published in 1818, under the title Kralodworsky Rukopis, with a German translation by Swoboda. Great doubt, however, was felt as to their genuineness; and Dobrowsky, by pronouncing The Judgment of Libussa, another manuscript found by Hanka, an “obvious fraud,” confirmed the suspicion. But some years afterwards Dobrowsky saw fit to modify his decision; and in 1840, after a careful examination of the manuscripts by two eminent antiquaries, Hanka was ultimately vindicated. A translation into English, The Manuscript of the Queen's Court, was made by Wratislaw in 1852. The originals were presented by the discoverer to the Bohemian Museum at Prague, of which he was appointed librarian in 1818. In 1848 Hanka took part in the Slavonic congress and other peaceful national demonstrations, being the founder of the political society Slovanska Lipa. He was elected to the ...