É. Apor , H. Wang (ed.): Catalogue of the Collections of Sir Aurel Stein in the Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Comp. by John Falconer, Ágnes Kárteszi, Ágnes Kelecsényi, Lilla Russell-Smith.

KELECSÉNYI Ágnes: Sir Aurel Stein and the Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences

SIR AUREL STEIN 'Alexander Csoma de Kőrös was the first to interpret Tibetan Literature to the West. His heroic self-sacrifice in the cause of Buddhist lore is enshrined in the record of his life, by another member of the Hungarian Academy, Theodore Duka, whose life-long devotion to the interests of his native land went hand in hand with deep-seated affection for England, his adopted country, to which he was linked by closest ties. Vámbéry, philologist and publicist, and Ignatius Goldziher, the greatest authority of his time on Islamic culture, one of the first Corresponding Fellows of the British Academy, are gratefully remembered on this occasion. Happily, among its present Fellows, the British Academy numbers Sir Aurel Stein, who so well maintains this two-fold tradition of Hungarian scholarship in the field of Oriental studies. Had his duties permitted, he would have fittingly conveyed, as nominated delegate, to his fellow members of the Hungarian Academy, these messages of goodwill and congratulations from their British colleagues.'

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7 In 1931, at the proposal of the President of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Aurel Stein was presented by the Hungarian state with the Class II Medal with Star. Albert Berzeviczy wrote in his proposal: 'Sir Aurel Stein, the world-famous Asia explorer, archaeologist and philologist, who was bom in Budapest, most recently delivered a number of lectures again at the sessions of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences during my presidency and also gave many indications of his kind interest in and persistently kind disposition towards our country and in particular our Academy. Aurel Stein showed constant interest in the Hungarian sciences also during his work abroad for forty years. At sessions of the Academy, he delivered lectures in the Hungarian language, of which he has full command both in writing and verbally, on the subject of Legbelsőbb Ázsia földrajzának hatása a történetben (Innermost Asia: its geography as a factor in history) in 1925 and on the subject of Nagy Sándor nyomdokain az Indushoz (On Alexander the Great's Track to the Indus

) in October 1929. He further demonstrated his kind disposition towards our Academy by donating to it in 1921 his family correspondence and in 1928 a very remarkable part of his large library, namely 2000 volumes.'

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8 In 1930, when Stein's admirers had commissioned a medal by Hungary's most famous medallist, Fülöp Ö. Beck, the Presidency of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences commissioned a silver version of the medal, and sent it to Stein in Oxford. In Stein's letter of thanks addressed to the President and General Secretary of the Academy, he described his relations with the Hungarian Academy of Sciences: 'I feel the little contribution that I could make in the interest of the Hungarian sciences does not merit this distinction. Yet, I firmly believe that the benevolent interest and effec1

7 Akadémiai Értesítő, 36/1925, p.302. 1

8 Albert Berzeviczy to Count Kunó Klebeisberg, Minister of Education, Budapest, 24 Feb 1930, Department of Manuscripts and Rare Books of the Library of the HAS (RAL 397/1930). 23