Postai és Távközlési Múzeumi Alapítvány Évkönyve, 1996
Rövid tartalmi összefoglaló angol nyelven
contribute to a group exhibition in the Postal Museum. The idea was to introduce the artists to the Foundation’s invited guests and provide an opportunity for sales. Eight artists accepted the invitation - Júlia Albrecht, Sándor T. Benkő, Viola Berki, István Damó, Erzsébet Gy. Vad, Sándor Herédi, Judit Józsa, Edit Kapros Kosa, Gyula Kiss, Mária Majsai, István Salló and Győző Somogyi. Each contributed ten pieces. The Advent Salon opened at 3 p.m. on December 13, the Feast of St Lucy, which is the occasion of many folk customs in Hungary. The Salon was opened by the Curator of the Postal Museum, Mrs Gergely Kovács, and could be seen from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. until the following Sunday. On each of the three days there was a recital of literature and music at 3 p.m., by Veronika Dabóczi and Gergő Süveges, followed by discussions with the artists. The event proved successful, and many exhibits (sculpture, paintings, drawings, pottery and textiles) were sold. Mrs Gergely Kovács: The Hungarian Post in the Age of Reform The study discusses three aspects of the Hungarian Post in the early 19th-century Hungarian Age of Reform. The first part examines its legal position. The Kingdom of Hungary formed part of the Habsburg Empire through the ruler himself, as a personal union. Constitutionally this meant that the Hungarian postal services were under the control of the Lieutenancy Council, not directly administered by the Vienna Court. Imperial postal regulations only came into force after they had been vetted to make sure they did not infringe Hungary’s constitutional or national interests. In 1829, for instance, the Lieutenancy Council would not allow a merger between the mail-coach administration, seen as a private venture belonging to the Austrian government, and the letter post, a national Hungarian institution. After examining the legal and jurisdictional position, the study presents the administrative structure, geographical system and staff of the Hungarian Post, including the postal routes and stages. The duties of postal officials are apparent from an oath of office dating from 1840. Other documents of the period define the management and supervisory tasks. This part of the study explains how the thin distribution of the system, the censorship of letters and the inaccurate calculation of postage led to a widespread social boycott of the Post. The third part surveys the letter-post and mail-coach services through some literary passages. Travel descriptions and private correspondence by those who used the postal services show that by the end of the Age of Reform, the Post was becoming a public institution and accepted as such by society. To sum up, the Hungarian Post in the Age of Reform provides a historical lesson. Laws and the organizations to apply them cannot further social or economic advance without gaining society’s support and active participation. Dr Kálmán Sebestyén: Atlases, Charts and Maps in the Postal Museum Maps, charts and atlases are source materials for Hungarian cultural history, including postal and telecommunications history, that still have not been adequately explored and assessed. Most historians reproduce maps simply as illustrations, for their decorative value 312
