Notitia hungáriae novae historico geographica (Budapest, 2011)
Matthias Belius: Comitatus Arvensis
50 ARVA COUNTY II. Preparation process of the county description Bél received help relatively early for the description of Árva County. György Buchholtz sent him a draft of description presumably compiled according to Bél’s instructions as early as in 1719 (cf. [Bu]). Nevertheless Bél must not have been satisfied with the received material, because he wrote even in 1732 to the Locotenential Council (Consilium Regium Locumtenentiale) that he could not have collected enough material for the county description (cf. a). In the meantime apparently he must have been working on the description since two notes of unknown origin about the county were to be found in his legacy (cf. [Fam], [KurzB]). However it was no sooner than in 1736 that he finished the first version of the description (a), that he got copied and sent in August of the same year to the county authority through the Locotenential Council (b), then in September another copy to the Chancellery (cl). He didn’t have much luck with the county authorities since the officials delayed the matter till 1738 only to decline the revision of the text in the end (cf. b). The Chancellary on the other hand revised it and sent the text back provided with observations that Bél took into consideration (c2). Afterwards somewhere in 1737 he sent supposedly this very same copy to János Ferenc Reviczky who noted his extensive comments regarding the text on separate pages (cf. [Re]). Bél largely considered Reviczky’s corrections and accordingly modified the text (c3), also thanking in a letter to his old friend. Another copy (D) was made of this modified version (c3) after Reviczky’s death on 12th February 1739, mentioned by Bél in the text - or maybe later, after the 4th volume of Notitia had been published in 1742 (see D). After further slight modifications the scientist (or somebody else) made this version copied again (E). From one of these latest copies György Gyurikovits1 got another copy made later (F). The description finally was not published in the 4th volume of Notitia. One can only guess the reasons. Most probably the rejection of the revision by the county authorities’ is to blame. None that it would have needed the county superiors’ supplement since it is altogether a very detailed and opulent work. Rather Bél didn’t want to print the description without the county authority’s permission. III. Presentation of the manuscripts [Bu] 1: 2: [Descriptio Comitatus Arvensis.] 3: [Manuscript cannot be found.] 4: Description of Árva County. 5: György Buchholtz, the headmaster of the Lutheran Gymansium in Nagypalugya and later of the Lutheran Gymnasium of Késmárk, was Bél’s diligent helpmate.2 In his letter to Bél dating of 14th 1 It is to be noted that Gyurikovits also made a description about Árva county himself (Notitia Historico-Geographica Comitatus Arvensis... opus... per Georgium Gyurikovits elaboratum Posonii anno MDCCCV. auctum et emendatum anno MDCCCXIII., OSZK Manuscript Collection Fol. Lat. 3220.; supplements, collected data: ibid. Föl. Lat. 3804. vol. I. ft. 90—155.), but he used Bél’s work only to a small extent, except for the title and the structure. Also see Minárik 2001. 19. 2 About Buchholtz see Bogár 2009., within regarding his help to Bél see pp. 106-110.
