Rózsa György (szerk.): The Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, 1826–1976.
III. Special collections - Oriental Collection
3. Old books (Antiqua as they are called) published between 1501 and 1550. 4. Museum pieces. Publications of extremely high value, books with precious bindings, parts of writers' libraries and other rare books. 5. Hungarian and foreign books published before 1850 and 1800, respectively, are gradually transferred from the Library's re-catalogued holdings to the Collection of Old Books. Entries of old books are arranged in one single alphabetical authors' catalogue. Except the cards of incunabula and of old Hungarian books, the entries are also put into the central catalogue of the Library. The collection has built up catalogues based on chronology and binding, too. In the last quarter of the century important conserving and restoring works have been carried out at every unit of the Department. Oriental Collection The reading rooms of the Oriental Collection were designed in 1950 and they are on the ground floor of the Academy's building in the corner formed by Akadémia Street and Roosevelt Square. It was opened in the spring of 1951 to form the library basis for oriental studies (which have long traditions in our country) and for training orientalists. With its organization a long-standing need of Hungarian oriental studies was met. When the Collection was established it consisted of 15 000 books and 1 000 manuscripts. Even before its foundation, our orientalists had rendered inestimable services by presenting the Library of the Academy with their collections of books and manuscripts, frequently with their total private libraries. At the end of the last century and in the early 1900's through Tivadar Duka the Library of the Academy was given the books and Tibetan manuscripts of Sándor Körösi Csorna, the founder of Tibetan studies, together with Duka's rich collection related to Körösi Csorna. By his will, the hebraist, David Kaufmann left the Library his extremely valuable hebraistic collection. This Kaufmann-collection, having a good international reputation, includes 594 manuscripts, 2 000 printed books, — among them unique illuminated Hebrew manuscripts from the 11th century onwards, incunabula and in addition to these the Geniza-collection. After the death of the turcologist, Ármin Vámbéry, his son, Rusztem presented the Academy his father's manuscripts and books, about 660 works, among which 56 highly valuable Arabic, Persian and Turkish manuscripts can be found. Aurél Stein, a pioneer of Central Asian studies, sent the Academy part of his private library, 1112 books, as early as 1926, while the other parts reached the Library in the early 1950's. The Stein-library forms even today the core of materials related to Central Asia in the Oriental Collection. Sándor Ke'gl gave the Library his whole collection, i.e. 11 000 works, among them 75 rarities, mostly Persian manuscripts. The extremely valuable correspondence of the scholar of
