Szabó Sarolta (szerk.): Hagyomány és változás a népi kultúrában.(Jósa András Múzeum Kiadványai 58. Nyíregyháza, 2005)

NÉPRAJZ - Ujváry Zoltán: Erdélyi János (1814-1868), a népköltészet első tudós kutatója

Zoltán Újvári: The First Scholarly Researcher of Folk Poetry (János Erdélyi 1814-1868) An outstanding researcher of 19th-century folk poetry was János Erdélyi. His achievements were remarkable both in ethnography and literature. His objective was to make folk poetry an accepted and acknowledged part of the Hungarian culture. His career began in the 1830s, when his writings and poems were published by various periodicals. His poems written in the style of folk songs preceeded those of Petőfi's. Erdélyi was an active member of the Kisfaludy Society from 1839, and he was appointed as the editor of the folk poetry gathered as a result of the national folk poetry collection project. His works, especially the three volumes of Folk Songs and Legends from 1846 from 1848 were successful. The downfall of the Revolution and of the War of Independence, and the ensuing absolutistic system, caused a setback in his work. In 1850, he returned to Sárospatak and worked as a teacher of philosophy and education, but folk poetry remained his most favourite field of research until his death. His work, entitled The Book of Hungarian Proverbs was published in 1851, and the Selected Hungarian Folk Songs came out in 1855. He encouraged his students to collect folk songs and folk customs.His premature death put an early end to an outstanding scholarly career. He died in 1868, at the age of 54.