The end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century was a period of growing interest in historical topography and local history. At that time, two substantial topographical works were being created in Moravia: the collective work Vlastivěda Moravská and the topography of Ladislav Hosák. Although some had intentions, a comparable work was not produced for Bohemia. This article presents one of the few attempts at a topography for the whole of Bohemia, the work of the peasant and politician Jan Barták (1861–1941) from the village of Kaliště near Ondřejov. In the years 1895–1941, Barták wrote and prepared for publication 193 volumes of his topography of Bohemia, based on extensive archival research and study of regional literature. During his lifetime, the author only managed to have one volume published, the one for the Jílové district near Prague. His topographical work, stored today in the State District Archive in Prague-West, based in Dobřichovice, has subsequently fallen into obscurity. The article provides information about Barták himself, his family, education, career, and political views. It focuses on Barták 's motivation for his topographical work, his inspiration, goals, sources, and methods of work. It also describes the scope and content of the work and its destiny after Barták' s death.