Anua linguarum reserata. (“An open door to languages”) J. A. Comenius [Jaromir Cervenka. Preface to the critical edition of the textbook Comenius "Janua", issued in Prague in 1959]

It is a given fact that such a subject, as Comenius’ studies (Comenius being a founder of contemporary didactics) are of a great importance for any serious scholar of the history of pedagogical science. The outmost progress of this discipline in the Czech Republic and Germany makes it necessary to inform a Russian reader on the works and results by the researchers from those countries. School textbook An Open Door to Languages (original Latin title: Janua linguarum reserata, first printed in 1632, then often reprinted) is far from being well-known in Russia, although it represents one of the most important masterpieces of Comenius practical pedagogy. Czech classical philologist and a historian of philosophy Jaromír Červenka (1903-1983) was an important comeniologist of the XXth century, so his preface to the critical edition of Comenius’ Janua (which is published in Russian translation) includes a lot of important facts concerning the history of this textbook and philosophical influences on it from various sides. This translation is meant as filling the gap in knowledge on Comenius’ Janua in Russian historical-pedagogical tradition.