The analysis shows that the status of prothetic v- explored in old prints differs from contemporary common Czech. The non-etymological v- is conditioned by the following factors: 1) grammatical or lexical status of words (prothetic v- occurs most frequently in grammatical words, sporadically in prepositions vo 'about', vod 'from', in 3ʳᵈ-person personal pronouns and in pronominal adverbs); 2) prefixation or non-prefixation (v- is more common in non-prefixed words, less frequent in prefixed words with prefix o-, rare in words with prefix od-, and quite sporadic in words with prefix ob-); 3) semantics of words (v- is common in names of domestic things and works, on the contrary, it is not used in abstract words, literary expressions and borrowings); 4) lexicalization (the most lexicalized forms are e. g. vorati 'to plough', votava 'aftermath', votruby 'bran'); 5) literary genre (agricultural literature is more opened to the phenomenon in question than biblical texts or chronicles); 6) text topics (most benevolent are mathematical texts, less agricultural texts and the least medical texts); 7) other factors, especially extralinguistic.