Csapodi Csaba: A Magyar Tudományos Akadémia Könyvtárának ősnyomtatvány-gyűjteménye (A MTAK kiadványai 53. Budapest, 1967)

THE COLLECTION OF INCUNABULA IN THE LIBRARY OF THE HUNGARIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES The seconds largest collection of incunabula in Hungary comprising 1,163 items is kept by the Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (founded in 1826). Apart from a few exceptions the collection was brought together by gifts of generous book-collectors and academicians. In this field, too, the first major donation came from the Teleki family, a member of which was the founder of the Library. According to our present knowledge, some 409 incunabula can be identified as part of the Teleki collection. It can, however, hardly be established which items belonged to Count József Teleki's private library presented to the Academy in 1850, or to his father, Count László Teleki, since the books equally bear the stamp reading: „Foundation of the Counts Teleki". What we now know is that in 1834 József Teleki purchased the book collekction of Ferenc Kresznerics, an honorary member of the Academy, with 87 incunabula among them (43 of wich had once belonged to the mediaeval library of the Dominican Friars in Vienna), and gifted them to the Academy. After receiving some minor and sporadic donations, the collection was increased considerably by György Ráth's „Hungaricum" library of over 2,000 volumes which he had bequeathed to the Academy in 1905. This collection also contained 143 incunabula relating to Hungary. The year 1928 saw the last great contribution to the collection when Count Ferenc Vigyázó bequeathed all his possessions and estates including a magnificent library of 17,000 volumes, to the Academy. The Vigyázó library alone added 431 incunabula to the Library's collection. The catalogue of the incunabula collection was published by Árpád Hellebrant in 1886, in the Latin language so that its international use might be facilitated. Unfortunately no more surch printed catalogue was published later, nor was the card catalogue of the Vigyázó-collection completed by the time of World War II and these items ware thus not entered in the GW (Gesamtkatalog der Wiegendrucke). After the reorganization of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in 1949, a large-scale modernization was begun in the Library, too, and the Collection of Old Books was set up to form a separete department in 1954. The first task of this department was to put the incunabula in order. The whole collection was identified anew, catalogued and placed in glass-cases. The understanding and support of the leaders of both the Academy and the Library made it possible that — by spending several tens of thousands of forints and employing a group of experts and specialists — the collection was restored, and all the unbound volumes could be supplied with appropriate valuable bindings. Most of the new additions to the collection (64 items), however, ware not received as presents by the Library as was the case before, but purchased: and 18 pieces in the collection which had formerly been kept in the main stacks of the Library, ware identified as incunabula, or ware found in book-covers during the work of restoration. Of the books of the nationalized church libraries, not more than seven incunabula came into possession of the Library. The 1Д63 incunabula of the Library are kept in the following collections: 1,149 volumes are in the Department of Old Books; 13 Hebrew incunabula as part of the Kaufmann-collection belong to the Library's Oriental Department but one of them is housed in the Department of Manuscripts because it contains some early records of the Hungarian language. The volumens in the Department of Old Books are arranged in accorance with the principle of proveniency, that is in the same groups in which they came into the Library. 23