The National Széchényi Library [antikvár]

THE NATIONAL SZÉCHÉNYI LIBRARY: ITS HI STORY AND SCOPEThe National Széchényi Library of Hungary was founded in 1802. It owes its establishment and name to a highly patriotic Hungarian aristocrat, Count Ferenc Széchényi, and for a long time to come it was supported almost exclusively by the generosity of progress-ive-minded members of Hungarian society.The reasons for the comparatively late date of the establishment of the Library can be found in the unique circumstances in Hungarian history. As a matter of fact, intellectual life in Hungary reached an advanced stage of development, a prerequisite for the establishment of a representative national book collection, much earlier than at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries. This is attested to by the age-old tradition of writing, publishing and collecting books in Hungary, which goes back as far as the 11th century. In the middle of the 15th century the interest in books in the monasteries and royal chancelleries led to the establishment of the library of King Matthias (I458-I490), whose Bibliotheca Corviniana was renowned throughout the world. This library was rivaled by the lesser known collections of several dignitaries of theHungarian Church as well (János Vitéz, Janus Pannonius, Domokos Kálmáncsehi, Orbán Dóczy de Nagylucse, Péter Váradi). The very existence of the exquisite Picture Chronicle, written in the court of King Louis I (the Great, 1342-1382), also proves that these collections did not spring up from one day to the next. In addition to ntmierous codices, the foundation of the first Hungarian universities (Pécs 1367, Óbuda 1389, Pozsony, today Bratislava in Czechoslovakia, 1467) as well as the foundation at the royal court of the first Hungarian printer's shop (which printed the Chronicle of Buda in 1473) all attest to a flourishing cultural life in medieval Hungary.This flourishing cultural life at the court, which could have formed the basis for the establishment of a national library and a national museum, was later destroyed by the Turkish invasion of 1526 and by the neglect of the Haps-burg dynasty that ruled Hungary. From this time on the preservation and promotion of culture in Hungary was to be the task of society and not the State for 400 years to come. It was due to the towns, to the Church and to their respective aristocratic and noble benefactors that a network of scientific and