50. évfolyam, 2004. 1. szám

Archívum

The article presents the department of early printed and rare books of the University Library on the occasion of making available the special collection of 16th and 17th century books for public use in November 2003. Sixteen of the most valuable books were displayed in the framework of an exhibition at the time of the opening.

The history of the University Library dates from 1561 when the first Jesuit monastery including a library was founded in Nagyszombat (Trnava, Slovakia). The University of Nagyszombat was founded in 1635. After the suppression of the Jesuits in 1773, the library became a state–owned entity. It was moved to Budapest in 1777 and occupied its current premises in 1876. The new catalogue of the library, including 11 main themes was completed in that year. In the collection, Hungarian and foreign books were separated, but they were arranged on the shelves by size, in order to save space.

The University Library joined the national early printed books program in 1990. In 2000, a separate unit, the Department of Early Printed Books was created in order to select, catalogue, preserve and make available for users all early printed books from the collection of the library. The library comprises 7200 early printed books, which means that this is the second largest such collection after the one at the National Library.

Országos Széchényi Könyvtár Észrevételek