Hála József - Romsics Imre (szerk.): A kalocsai polihisztor. Tóth Mike emlékkönyv. Tanulmányok - Kalocsai múzeumi értekezések 11. (Kalocsa, 2009)
Kecskeméti Tibor: Tóth Mike ásványgyűjteményének tudományos és muzeológiai értéke
Kecskeméti Tibor TIBOR KECSKEMÉTI The scientific and museological value of Mike Toth’s mineral collection This paper first reviews the history and stock of the collection, then examines the considerations which determine its scientific and museological value. With regard to individual pieces of the collection, it highlights rarity, curiosity (shape, colour etc.), Hungarian aspects, aesthetic, didactic and financial value. Particularly important pieces of the collection are minerals with a Hungarian relevance (particularly from the famous mining spots of one time Greater Hungary or those named after Hungarian researchers) as well as a number of naturally occurring elements (such as gold and silver), precious stones (diamond, amethyst, beryl, mountain crystal, jade, jasper, noble opal, ruby, emerald, turquoise and sapphire). Criteria regarding the completeness of the collection include size, geographic and scientific coverage, organisation, the quality of processing, inventorying, the general condition of the collection and accessibility for experts and the wider public (exhibition in the original historical context). The essay speaks particularly highly of the value of the collection from the point of view of the history of science - this is a collection which indicates a very important earlier stage in the development of the science of mineralogy. It is similarly valuable from the point of view of the history of education: it presents the laboratory of a school in a small town allowing us to appreciate the extremely rich illustrative material that was used in teaching mineralogy at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Another important feature is the value of the furniture itself: an excellent example of the applied arts, it was a product of local carpenters representing a truly artistic standard. Based on all of these considerations, the cultural government has accorded this collection, significant even in international comparison, the rank of a protected collection and a national treasure. 120
