É. Apor , H. Wang (ed.): Catalogue of the Collections of Sir Aurel Stein in the Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Comp. by John Falconer, Ágnes Kárteszi, Ágnes Kelecsényi, Lilla Russell-Smith.

KELECSÉNYI Ágnes: Sir Aurel Stein and the Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences

ÁGNES KELECSÉNYI 'Many pleasant memories of my youth are connected with the fine library of the Academy. Apart from the paternal home I spent my happiest hours there and it was there that I began my studies to become an orientalist taking pains to learn the Sanskrit grammar etc.'

2 Stein left Hungary to study and later work overseas. Yet, even with the great international recognition he received, he never forgot about his native land, and throughout his life continued to recall with gratitude 'the effective support I had been given at the outset of my Oriental studies both from the Hungarian Royal Ministry of Public Education and, through its Library and great Orientalist scientists, from the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.'' His gratitude was reflected both in the spiritual, moral and financial support that he accorded to Hungarian academic and scientific society throughout his career, and in the significant bequest he made to the Library. He would, for example, have a copy of each of his books delivered to the Library immediately upon publication. In 1921, Stein donated his family letters to the Academy. The correspondence between Ernő Stein, his brother, and Professor Ignác Hirschler, his uncle, discussing Goethe literature, was deposited at his request in the Goethe Room of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences for preservation. In his letter to the Chief Librarian of the Academy, Stein stated the following reasons for this decision: 'Both my older brother and my uncle gained deep insights into Goethe studies and were persistently enthusiastic about them. Both of them maintained a close connection with the late lamented Dr Elischer. Therefore, I believe their correspondence on Goethe could not find a better place for preservation than in the fine collection of imperishable value of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. I am confident that devoted future Goethe researchers will find many interesting facts in these essay-like letters sometimes written in a masterly fashion.' As the letters frequently contained personal references and were sometimes of a confidential nature, Stein directed that 'for 30 years from the date of deposition they may be made accessible only subject to the prior written consent of myself and, after my death, of Mr. János Pongrácz, the grandson of my late lamented uncle. After 1950, the normal rules concerning the Goethe collection shall be applicable also to this deposit.'

4 Such personal references included references to Sir Aurel Stein's childhood, his early studies and his beginnings of his career, as seen by his early educators. This batch of letters was made available in 1955 by the General Secretary Office of the Academy to the Department of Manuscripts of the Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, where it was registered under the title 'The cor2 Aurel Stein to Kálmán Szily, Akadémiai Értesítő, 1922, p.38. 3 Aurel Stein to Albert Berzeviczy, Mohand Marg, 12 Aug 1912, Akadémiai Értesítő, 1912, pp.

589-590. 4 Akadémiai Értesítő, 1921, p.280. 14