EN
Comenius introduced his central piece of work General Consultation on the Improvement of Human Affairs with a celebratory dedication entitled by the salutation Europae lumina, viri docti, pii, eminentes, salvete (“Greetings, lights of Europe, men of learning, piety and eminence”). He rewrote this dedication twice, his emendations involving primarily further supplements to the text. The comparison of the three available texts allows for insight into the author’s thought not only on the dedication itself, but also on the whole of General Consultation. In this respect some role is played by brief descriptions – in most cases including a title – of individual parts of General Consultation in the opening of the dedication and their comparison with the final front-page forms of all seven parts of the work; it is possible to trace some shifts in emphasis on their content elements. Other changes concern above all accentuation of the aspect of universality and emphasis on urgency of appeals for participation in the improvement process. At the same time, however, we can also see a tendency towards appeasement of extreme emotions, and a milder and kinder attitude towards the addressees of the dedication – i. e. the prospective collaborators in the task of the universal improvement of human affairs.