49. évfolyam, 2003. 4. szám

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The study focuses on the bibliographical work of István SÁNDOR (1750–1815), but it also touches upon on his other literary and research activities. Born in a wealthy landowner family and having received outstanding education, István Sándor dedicated his life to literary ambitions. He started publishing literary translations, but his bibliographical interest was revealed already in his first publication in 1778. In the 1780's, he established contacts with many of the most important Hungarian scholars while his personal knowledge was also extending through his reading and a number of trips in Western Europe. The encyclopaedic approach, typical of the age of the enlightenment, started to prevail in his works. In his encyclopaedic work titled "Sokféle" (Miscellaneous) and written by him alone, he published articles in history, linguistics, history of arts and bibliography. Through his research work and international contacts, he realised that Hungarian literature and culture are hardly known abroad. It was in "Sokféle" that he published his first real bibliographical work about the books published in Hungarian language in the 16th century. He first mentioned the bibliographic work in process in one of his articles in 1799. The bibliography, under the title "Magyar Könyvesház" (Hungarian Bibliography) was published in Győr in 1803.

The present study attempts to restore Sándor’s sources and methodology from the footnotes of the Bibliography as well as the references found in "Sokféle". The Bibliography offers a chronological display of the data of 3,632 Hungarian language books published between 1533 and 1800. For the background research to the Bibliography, Sándor used his own library, did research at the Royal Library in Vienna as well as at libraries in the Hungarian towns of Debrecen and Eger. He had assistance from several colleagues who were sending him titles. Sándor used nearly all important works of 18th century Hungarian literary history, including booksellers’ catalogues (published in an increasing number from the end of the century). He could not have used the catalogue of Ferenc Széchényi’s library (today the National Library of Hungary), as some of the items of the library catalogue are missing from Sándor’s bibliography. Sándor was preparing to re-edit his work, but after some time, his attention turned to other areas. In his testimony, he dedicated his collection to the Hungarian Scientists’ Society, together with 10.000 forints. The exact reconstruction of his bibliography remains subject to further research.

Országos Széchényi Könyvtár Észrevételek