Az egri főegyházmegyei könyvtár cirill betűs és glagolita könyvei by Sándor Földvári; Eszter Ojtozi
Review by: G. F. Cushing, in The Slavonic and East European Review, Vol. 71, No. 3 (Jul., 1993), pp. 502-503
Published by: the Modern Humanities Research Association and University College London, School of Slavonic and East European Studies
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/4211306
[...]
The lengthy study preceding the catalogue is of particular interest. It surveys the history of the numerous libraries in Eger and discusses the provenance of the collection. For centuries there was a Serbian Orthodox community in the town, indeed Eger was the birthplace of Mihaly Vitkovics
(Mihailo Vitkovic), one of the notable literary figures of the early nineteenth century who wrote in both Serbian and Hungarian. The Serbian church, in whose parsonage Vitkovics was born, possessed a library and might therefore
appear to be a source of the relevant books in the Archdiocesan library, but most of its stock was transferred to the much larger collection in Szentendre
when the church was closed for worship and became a museum; the few remaining books are on display there.
Another line of enquiry leads to possible Uniate links with Eger. There was a Uniate diocese of Munkaics (Mukacevo), which was geographically near to
Eger; moreover places were offered for six Uniate students to study in the theological college there, though relations between the two bishops were never
cordial and on one occasion all six students fled. It would therefore seem unlikely that the majority of the books were donated by the Uniates in
Munkacs. On the other hand the places of publication suggest a strong Uniate connection: fourteen of the books were published in Pochaev and eight in
Lvov, both places where Uniate activity was strong. Further research in this field might solve this problem.
[...]
The study does not confine itself to the Eger collection. It also provides a useful survey of the evolution of Slavonic bibliography in Hungary, with
special reference to the collections at the pilgrimage venue of Mariapocs and the Uniate Theological College in Nyiregyhaza.
This is a well-researched and welcome venture. It is to be hoped that the authors will extend their work to include wider discussion of the problems they have met in this necessarily brief work, which amply demonstrates their competence in this field.
London G. F. CUSHING