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)
V. R. Harkó and T. Vida : British Contacts of the Hungarian István Weszprémi, M. D. (1723—1799)
V. R. Harkó— T. Vida : British Contacts of I. Weszprémi. 137 Kazay collection of books and medals. He preferred to publish only material drawn from authentic sources, or seen by his own eyes. When he was compelled to use references, he sifted very carefully what to take over from whom. In connection with someone's work he points out (Succinta. .. Vol. I. p. 159): "I did not have opportunity to see this, but Zwittinger mentions it." He knew that he did not have available sufficient source materi¿ , and for this reason he addressed an appeal to his readers: "In due consideration of public interests and the interests of the educated world as a whole , we request the scholarly sons of all peoples to let us know if any of these relics are discovered somewhere on this earth." He not only counted on the interests of foreign readers, but in Volume III of the Succinta. . . in his dedication to Baron Storçk, he presented an apology: "...how welcome it was not only with my compatriots but also among foreigners versed in the realm of science in something my modesty forbids me to describe in detail ". His work owed part of its success to his wide education, his knowledge of foreign languages and his friendships with scholars and scientists at home and abroad, men with whom he corresponded and from whom he obtained a lot of valuable data for his work. The four volumes, which appeared from 1774 to 1787, are not just a collection of medical biographies, but a veritable encyclopaedia. The work mentions philosophical, theological and natural scientific problems, for the authors included in it are in the majority not merely physicians but polyhistors. Listing the works of the individual authors, it presents significant bibliographical material. In other countries there were already more differentiated works, dinstinctly medical biographies, bibliographies and medical histories. As Weszprémi was doing pioneer work in the field, he was not able to differentiate in this way. His later Hungarian critics blamed him for this alleged weakness. Fabius Sugár wrote almost a hundred years later 2 2 that although the Succinta was a very rare work, and for this reason obtainable only with great difficulty and for a good price, it had the fault that it was "flooded with information which was not always in place." Weszprémi's work was so significant partly because it proved that the bulk of Hungarian medicine was not merely an offshoot of the first and second Vienna schools of medicine, but had drawn also from other sources, and an important branch developed from the nourishment provided by English culture and English medicine. As in all his other works, here, too, there is strong evidence of his "Anglomania". He publicized the information about a great many Hungarian physicians that they visited England and studied there. 2 3 2 2 Sugár, Fábiusz: Orvosok és az orvostudomány (Physicians and Medical Science). Pest, Lampel, 18(31, p. 43. 2 3 Hungarian physicians who visited England, in the order listed by Weszprémi: János Bánfihunyadi, János Csúzi Cseh, András Dudith, Sámuel Köleséri, Ferenc Pápai Páriz, György Szilágyi, Máté Csanaki, István Balogh, Ézsaiás Geyger, András Ajtai, Ferenc Hunyadi, István Huszti, István Tolnai, János Vette, Ferenc Pápai Páriz, Jr.
