É. Apor , I. Ormos (ed.): Goldziher Memorial Conference, June 21–22, 2000, Budapest.
ORMOS, István: The Correspondence of Ignaz Goldziher and Max Herz
THE CORRESPONDENCE OF IGNAZ GOLDZIHER AND MAX H ERZ Herz seems to have written them in a haste. This latter circumstance is likely to have influenced the choice of language too. We know that he corresponded with many people and was always busy, so the language he used in a previous letter or document may have influenced his choice of language in a subsequent one - there is no other way to explain why he used French on a post-card addressed to Goldziher. (Most probably Herz acquired his knowledge of French as an adult, after his arrival in Egypt.) At the same time it can be assumed that his fluency in written Hungarian diminished with the progress of time. In the beginning the tone of the letters is quite formal. Herz addresses Goldziher as "Professor" and with the personal pronoun and verbal form of respect, while later the address will be "my dear friend" and the pronoun and verbal form of respect will be replaced by the second person singular. There can be no doubt that this happened as a result of the suggestion of Goldziher, who was six years Herz's senior. It may be remarked that in one case Herz is quoting Goldziher's two questions verbally and these questions are in Hungarian: "In which part of the city is J^street located? (A város melyik részén van a (jüiji. utca?)" And: "Is there a street called -Wjj in the vicinity of the Mosque of Ibn Banna? (Van-e egy "Äjj nevű utca az Ibn Banna mecset közelében ?)" Interestingly enough Herz's answers are in German! 1 It seems likely that Goldziher's mother tongue or first language was German but he learned Hungarian very early and grew up bilingual. 5 We have no information on Herz Pasha's mother tongue but there is some likelihood that his case may not have been unlike Goldziher's. We know from the letters how they became acquainted. Karl Völlers, the director of the Khedivial Library, lent Herz his copy of Goldziher's Hungarian book on the religion of Islam? Herz read it and was impressed by its contents, so he wrote a letter to Goldziher introducing himself and thanking him for the great pleasure and profit he derived from reading the book, especially in view of the fact that Chapter IV deals with Islamic architecture, the title of which is "The monuments of Islamic architecture in connection with Muhammadan Weltanschauung" 1 . Herz also made some comments on this chapter and ended the letter by informing Goldziher that he 4 Letter dated Cairo, 26 July - 9 August 1896. The first half of the letter is in Hungarian, the second half - written on 9 August - begins in German and then reverts to Hungarian. 5 See my discussion of this subject in the present volume. 6 Goldziher Ignácz, Az iszlám. Tanulmányok a muhammedán vallás története köréből [Islam. Studies in the History of the Muhammadan Religion], Budapest 1881. Cf. Bemard Heller, Bibliographie des oeuvres de Ignace Goldziher. Paris 1927, 30-35 (n° 85). Karl Völlers (1857-1909) was director of the Khedivial Library from 1 May 1889 until 30 September 1896. Then he left for Jena in Germany, where he was appointed professor of Oriental languages. He died prematurely. Ayman Fu'äd Sayyid, Dar al-kutub al-misriyya. Tärihuhä wa-tatawwuruhä, Cairo 1417/1996, 97, 103. 7 Letterdated Cairo, 30 March 1895. 161
