Dr. Kubassek János szerk.: A Kárpát-medence természeti értékei (Érd, 2004)

Dr. Miklós Kázmér: Dr. Edward Browne's visit in the mining towns of Lower Hungary in 1669

Cfw. Scátmxd Çfâwume'â vùît in t/ie minùti^. (owns of^£oww <f(M4Ujwtsi<y, in Jfffîâ ° te BROWNE'S Grand Tour, especially his travel in the Low Countries deserved a study of monographic magnitude by STRIEN (1997). The doctor's description of the land, people, and customs, through observation of daily life, assessed together with the diary of another British traveller, JOHN LOCKE,

3 recorded both life of the country and the views of the travellers as well. Making the Grand Tour, a trip completing the education of wealthy and noble young men yielded hundreds if not thousands of reports, diaries, novels, discussed in a rich secondary literature (for a recent review see e.g. BLACK, 1985). STOYE (1989) and STRIEN (1993) deals with travels in the 17th century, emphasizing different approaches of the young people. Both authors agree that travellers with scientific interests were extremely rare. BROWNE'S two volumes are rich source for all kind of information: those on medical history are have been extensively studied by NEIIBURGER (1917), THORNTON (1954) and LEVENTAL (1982). Historians of the successor states of the former Austrian-Hungarian empire translated and analysed Browne's descriptions about their respective countries: for Austria POYNTER (1948), for Serbia NOVAKOVIC (1891), POPOVIC (1933-1934), and KOSTIC (1973) for Macedonia LEVENTAL (1963). Besides a rich selection and translation from the Travels by SZAMOTA (1891) there are numerous short papers, recording the trip and emphasizing the good observations of Browne (HONTI, 1969, 1974, 1979; BCGYI, 1973). A facsimila edition (NEHRING, 1975) provided a sketch map of Browne's itinerary and identified several geographical names used by Browne. The travels were significantly more than a regular Grand Tour completing a young man's education; however, we have little information as yet on the motivation besides the Wanderlust of the young Browne. However, we can make guesses of internal and external motives only: whether these were requests for information by representatives of the expanding British Empire (VARKONYI, 1972; COOK, 1999), economic calculations

4 or pure scientific interest, remains hidden. This paper provides a few clues towards understanding the scientific background only.