Hungarian Studies Newsletter, 1983 (11. évfolyam, 35-38. szám)

1983 / 38. szám

BOOKS (Continued)

Decline (reviewed elsewhere in this issue) is of rather recent origin. The frame of reference represents interpretation of Hungarian history as perceived by the leading historians of the interwar period. The volume is divided into five chronological chapters and a “Panorama of Hungarian Culture,” i.e., music, art, science, language and literature. Its language is exceptionally smooth and readable.

The author is a writer and former editor of Free World Review, a quarterly on foreign affairs.

Stegena, Lajos, ed. LAZARUS SECRETARIUS; The First Hungarian Mapmaker and His Work. Budapest: Akadémiai kiadó', 1982.115 pages, maps, charts, diagrams, lists, biblio. $48.00 paper.

Lazarus, whose last name, the dates of his birth and death, and some of the schools he attended, as well as his family circumstances are not known, nevertheless, wrote his name into the archives of European cartography by drawing the first modern map of Hungary. He finished the map in 1510 and it was published in 1528. “Though it is the work that counts, not the author — or, as the Hungarian poet Gyula Juhász put it: ‘It is the song that matters, not the lark,’ scholars have since the discovery of the map been intrigued by the question of the person of this Lazarus who was secretary to Thomas (Bakcfcz) Archbishop of Esztergom. The editor provides an introduction, a brief summary of cartography in Hungary before Lazarus, a biography, and a description of the map and how it was made. Fifteen contributors elaborated on the text, on geographic names, symbols and modes of writing names, on the mathematical structure of the map, on distortions, on the quality of paper used, coats of arms on the map, and a select bibliography. The album-sized book is placed in a folder which contains facsimiles of the five known different editions of Lazarus’ map.

The editor is affiliated with the Department of Cartography, Eötvös L.U.

Vardy, Steven Bela and Agnes Huszar Vardy, eds. SOCIETY IN CHANGE: STUDIES IN HONOR OF BÉLA K. KIRÁLY.

East European Monographs, distributed by Columbia University Press, 562 West 113th Street, New York, NY 10025,1983. xii + 680 pages, illus. $25.00 cloth.

Festschriften are written by groups of scholars and friends as tributes to an eminent colleague. Since in most such volumes cohesion is based on personal and professional relationships, the themes of such tomes are rarely integrated and seldom interesting. This book is different. The36 contributors to this volume, with the guidance of the editors, wrote on a wide range of topics, such as America through Hungarian eyes, Peasants in two political systems, Hitler and the statesmen of East Central Europe, Seventeenth-century Bulgarian 'Pomaks',” but all within the framework of social change, and most of them related to East Central Europe. Articles are grouped into subfields such as the role of the military; ethnicity, nationality, and migration; variables in social change; political and social factors in the transformation of East Central European societies and the Balkans; the impact of change on the arts and sciences; and finally on intra-nationality and international relations. A biographical essay and a bibliography of 74 entries were prepared by the editors who authored also a preface. U.S. Senator Christopher J. Dodd (Conn.) wrote the foreword. We would like to add that Kira'ly’s unique contribution to the field

of social change and East Central European area studies can be found in the publishing of 35 volumes of related works. An unsurpassed accomplishment.

Steven B. Vardy is professor of history and director of the Duquesne U. History Forum; Agnes H. Huszar is assoc, professor of literature at Robert Morris Coll. Both are prolific writers whose works had been reviewed in the HSN on several occasions.

Varga, Domokos, HUNGARY IN GREATNESS AND DECLINE: The 14th and 15th Centuries. Transl. from the original Hungarian (Magyarorsza'g Vira'gzása és romla'sa, Mo'ra Ferenc könyvkiadó', 1970) by Martha Szacsvay Lipták. Hungarian Cultural Foundation, P.O. Box 364, Stone Mountain, GA 30086, 1982. 159 pages, illus. $13.70 cloth. No. 13 in the Program in East European and Slavic Studies Publications, State University of New York, Buffalo. Gen. editor Joseph M. Ertavy-Barath.

A treasure trove of data elegantly illustrated treats the reader to the political history of the Carpathian region between 1301 and 1526. Not a scholarly book in terms of language and references, but its narrative is clear and easily readable and its generous illustrations include over 200 black and white photos, drawings, maps, and facsimile as well as four colored plates depicting ancient art objects and outstanding personalities. The plates are reproductions from archival and library sources, photos by a number of photographers, maps by the Cartographical Enterprise, all in Hungary. Though aimed at high school and junior college students, the volume could make undergraduate level European history courses more meaningful if used as required reading. East Central Europe oriented historians will find the volume an effective teaching aid.

DISSERTATIONS*

Dieteman, Charles James (U. of Washington, 1977) “Austria- Hungary and the Development of Romanian Independence.”

248 pages. Microfilm and xerox no. 77-26, 815.

Romanian independence in the modern era fully developed during 1878 and 1883. Being a small state, weak, relatively backward, and caught between the political and economic competition and vital interest of the great powers and their Balkan clients, Romania, upon liberation from thesuzereignty of the Ottoman Empire, had to cast about for her own great power protector. She was left to choose between Russia and Austria-Hungary. Such a choice was not easy. The former was eastern and the latter western in character. After Romania’s unilateral declaration of independence on May 21,1877, and the granting of Romanian independence at San Stefano and at the Congress of Berlin, recognition by some of the great powers was withheld until 1880. Thus, Romania’s control over her own foreign and domestic affairs was tenuous. In 1883 Romania signed a defensive treaty with Austria-Hungary, freely making that choice. However, the defense alliance had no real value, and Romania remained essentially neutral. The circumstances of this neutrality is the focus of this study. □

•Abstracts are usually based on those published in Dissertation Abstracts International. Microfilm and xerox copies of the original full dissertation may be obtained, when indicated, from Xerox University Microfilm 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Ml 48106. When ordering, use the number shown.

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NO. 38, WINTER 1983-1984, HUNGARIAN STUDIES NEWSLETTER