J. Antall szerk.: Medical history in Hungary 1972. Presented to the XXIII. International Congress of the History of Medicine / Orvostörténeti Közlemények – Supplementum 6. (Budapest, 1972)
E. Schultheisz and L. Tardy: The Contacts of the two Dees and Sir Philipp Sidney with the Hungarian Physicians
E. Schultheisz—L. Tardy : The Contacts of the two Dees. 105 This fact is know from the correspondence between Sir Thomas Browne and Elias Ashmole. Ashmole, who showed an inclination towards occulat sciences inquired about Arthur Dee from Sir Thomas Browne. In a letter written in March 1(>74 Browne mentions that Arthur Dee signed a contract with a man named Huniades in London two years before his death. This Huniades had long since been living in London and when he grew old he wanted to return to Hungary in the company of Arthur Dee. 2 6 The experiments conducted jointly by Dee and Bánfihunyadi proved to be over expensive according to some sources and resulted in diminishing Dee's wealth considerably. The other version according to which the two scientists were in close cooperation right up to Bánfihunyadi's death can be regarded as more authentic. In our present knowledge John Dee's visits to Hungary did not make any significant influence on this country's scientific life, rather in contrast to Arthur Dee's "Fasciculus Chemicus", whose influence on Hungarian alchemy is ponderable. But only if we know about John Dee's Hungarian visits can we comprehend why Banfi Huniades, a man of his son's age, went to live in London and why Arthur Dee longed to visit Hungary where he had spent his childhood. And it is also obvious that one of the sources of the Browne family's snarked interest in Hungary of Sir Thomas and Sir Edward, both physicians —must be sought here. However, we have to touch upon another source of this interest as well, principally on the ground of an excellent paper by István Gál. 2 7 * After having dealt briefly with the activity in Hungary of the British alchemist John Dee and before going on to the life and activity in England of the Hungarian chemist and alchemist Banfi Huniades, we have to mention a Hungarian—English contact from the short period in-between. The central figure of this contact is Sir Philip Sidney who, though having a universal humanist interest, cannot be regarded as a natural scientist. Still, his appearance, in Hungary 2 8 and his friendly relations established here make it indispensable to write about him as well. 2 9 2 G Sherwood Taylor, F.-Josten, C. H.: Johannes Banfi Hunyades 1576-1650. Ambix. Vol. 5, 1953, Nos 1-2, p. 48. Cfr. Róna É. op. cit. pp. 38-39. 2 7 Gál, I.: Sir Philip Sidney's Guidebook to Hungary. Hungarian Studies in English IV. Debrecen, 1969, pp. 53-64. 2 8 . .gieng 1572 auf Reisen, und war zu Paris, als die Blut-Hochzeit allda gehalten wurde. Er gieng darauf nach Deutschland, Ungarn und Italien ..." Jöcher, Chr. G. : Allgemeines Gelehrten Lexicon. IV. Tĥeil. Leipzig, 1751, column 571. 2 9 His letters from Hungarian scholars were sold at an auction in Germany and are now in the USA. Their publication is to be expected in the near future as Mr. I. Gál kindly informed us.
