As for the place names in the narrative, a complex triple question made me rack my brain. Many of the locations are situated in what is now the Czech Republic; yet the fictional characters who speak about them or live there are German speakers; and finally, the novel itself is written in English for an English-speaking readership. So, in which language should the toponyms be presented?
Established English spellings for renowned places such as capitals and other major cities offer some guidance. It is perfectly normal to write Vienna or Prague instead of German Wien or Prag (or Czech Vídeň and Praha). But beyond that, an uncertain area begins: how does one define a “renowned place,” especially when it comes to Bohemian towns and castles?
Since there is no single clear answer, I have chosen to follow the historical context of the novel and to present those toponyms as they would have been known to the eighteenth-century German-speaking Viennese nobility. Thus, readers will encounter Wittingau, Pressburg, Krumau, Frauenberg, Brandeis an der Elbe, Alt-Bunzlau, and Kreschtowitz — rather than Třeboň, Bratislava, Český Krumlov, Hluboká nad Vltavou, Brandýs nad Labem, Stará Boleslav, or Chřeštóvice, respectively.
Admittedly, I may not have managed to remain fully consistent in this matter, for which I apologise in advance — as well as if these forms should sound odd or outdated to Czech readers.
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