Szotyori-Nagy Ágnes (szerk.): A Magyar Mezőgazdasági Múzeum Közleményei 2011-2012 (Budapest, 2012)
Tanulmányok - Csoma Zsigmond: Az első magyar nyelvű, erdélyi református lelkész által írt kertészeti szakkönyv (1669)
The first Hungarian-language horticultural book by János Nadányi of Transylvania, 1669 ZSIGMOND CSOMA Even though in 16-17th-century Transylvania, in the years of the late Renaissance, the so-called ‘high Renaissance’ was dominant, it was highly bound by ancient tradition. It also took a couple of decades for modern horticultural expert literature to evolve. This is proven by Nadányi’s horticultural specialist book translation. János Nadányi of Kőrös-Nadány (1643-1707) was a Presbyterian pastor and teacher who translated the 16th-century book written by Mizaldus (or Mizauld), in which the author published the collected horticultural works of ancient authors. Although Nadányi fulfilled Anna Bornemissza’s commission, who was the wife of Mihály Apafi, Prince of Transylvania, by that time the original French work had become outdated. Due to the publication of the book by Mizaldus, however, the influence of classical authors were perpetuated. Of course, the Transylvanian Presbyterian pastor being neither competent nor interested in floriculture was bound to textual fidelity in his translation. But those who selected the book in good faith and ordered its translation did not notice that in the meantime farming methods had changed and readers were more interested in rational, updated books and calendars such as the Hungarian horticultural specialist book by János Lippay. Lippay’s book and Nadányi’s translation were poles apart, they were not to be compared, and probably had one thing in common: they both enriched 17th-century Hungarian professional literature and the scope of horticulture. Lippay produced a practical volume based on his own experience with some references to Europe, which served as a guide for horticulture, gardening, agriculture and effective farm management.. In Transylvania the lack of specialised textbooks of this kind was realised, nevertheless the translation of obsolete books dating back to the ancients, with no focus on farming and gardening, continued. Thus, this volume had became something of a rarity (only 75 copies were issued in 1669), while Lippay’s book was widely used in Transylvania as a guide for the improvement of gardening on noble estates. Lippay’s horticultural book (1664-1667) was more critical, recent, more comparative and much more contemporary than János Nadányi’s Transylvanian horticultural specialist book translation (1669). 83
