Publishers and Booksellers in Hungary [antikvár]

THE HISTORY OF BOOKS IN HUNGARY UNTIL 1945 Before the appearance of printed books in Hungary, a rich culture of manuscripts developed in the country from the 11th century onwards. Codices were first made in monasteries, and later by secular copiers of humanistic views. A number of precious codices also came to Hungary from abroad, the most remarkable collection of them being King Matthias's (1443-1490) Bibliotheca Corviniana of European fame, containing 2,000-2,500 volumes. THE BEGINNINGS OF PRINTING It was during the reign of King Matthias, in 1472, that András Hess, the first native printer who had studied the art of printing at the Lauer printing press in Rome, arrived in Buda on the invitation of László Karai, Provost of Buda and Royal Chancellor. The first product of his printing press, the Chronica Hun- Ludion