Rásonyi László: Stein Aurél és hagyatéka (A MTAK kiadványai 18. Budapest, 1960)
37 rations, he, however, gave the world a koy to the mysteries of thousands of years and of civilizations disappeared long ago. The vast material he brought, to light is kept in the museums of London, Delhi, Calcutta, and Lahore, in the Harvard University as well as in Persia. The experts have been working on that material for half a century and will work on it even for a long time. If he had been a geographer only, he would have achieved a lasting reputation for himself anyway. However, the other results obtained by him overshadow his merits in the field of geography. Illness, serious wound, amputation . . . nothing prevented Stein from carrying out his plans. As Oldham, his old friend writes: "Stein was exceptionally endowed by study and character for work of exploration." (Sir Aurel Stein. Obituary Notice. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society; 1944, 81 ff.) We may add to Oldham's excellent necrology that, as it appears from the bequest, too; Stein was always a man of a grateful disposition. He found a way at any t ime to show, sooner or later, his gratitude for the slightest service and favour done to him and for the good terms with his collaborators, no matter whether it was all about his former supporter (e. g. Sir H. Rawlinson whom the "Innermost Asia" was dedicated to) or the Indians subordinate to him in land-surveying (e. g. Lai Singh). Moreover, it appears from his posthumous notes and books that he had a very closo connection with nature and that he was a romantic soul at bottom. Aurel Stein collected books not in the manner of a bibliophile who was procuring them for their own sake; he was not able to do so for want of a permanent, home. Covering about 80 000 kilometres on foot and on horseback, he spent a great deal of his life on the way. Even his time spent "at home" was divided among several homes (Mohand Marg, Srinagar, London, Oxford), so it is understandable that he mostly acquired those publications only which he needed from a scientific point of viow related to his expeditions. He received a large number of books as complimentary copies, so it is easy to understand that a lot of works of several volumes were found incomplete in his library. Nevertheless, he left about 3600 books and reprints to the Academy; four fifths of them are added to the collection of the Oriental Department of our Library. The first part of his books sent to Budapest in 1925 was catalogued by 1927. The second part was delivered in 1957; t he competent English authorities were very obliging in forwarding it to Hungary. The Stein Library is particularly of great importance to the scientists dealing with Central Asian; Indian, and Iranian studies because it contains plenty of works published chiefly between 1910 and 1940 which are not to be found in Hungary otherwise, in view of the fact that, the Academy was not in a position to purchase, so to speak, anything in these three decades. The material on Oriental studies in the Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences consists chiefly of private collect ions. Relying upon this stock, the Academy haa been systematically developing the Oriental Department of its Library since 1950. Aurel Stein's legacy strengthens the bases to a great extent and considerably promotes the further development at the same time. Nevertheless, the fact that one of our fellow-countrymen — what a fellow-countryman! — getting abroad gave his library to his native country, and the circumstances as well as the manner in which he did it are of still greater moral importance to us.
