- fas fa-search
- fab fa-facebook
- Accessibility
Angol_Muzeális, Különgyűjtemény
There are rare and old books in our collection that have historical value and are stored in a special, separate room. That collection contains books that were published before 1850, pieces before the foundation of our university in 1949, and the hand-written literary bequest of the Csáth-Kosztolányi family.
The special collections are being processed and catalogued. Specialists of the National Széchényi Library support our job which we are really thankful for.
Our special collections can be accessed after prior request and registration. The volumes cannot be borrowed, they can only be used onsite.
Voltaire collection
The Voltaire collection contains 82 rare books written before 1784 by Voltaire and his contemporary authors. Part of this collection was restored in 2009. It also contains 191 classicist books published between 1784 and 1932 in French, which partly had been restored. Unfortunately, 9 volumes of the entire collection are missing.
Edition called “Kehl” is one of the most famous editions of Voltaire’s works. The volumes were published by Beaumarchais who established a printing house in Kehl to create this collection. The volumes are bound in polished calf leather. There are gilded decorations on the frames of the binding boards while their backs are decorated with flowers and palm branches. The titles and the volume numbers are on the spines of them decorated with gilded floral designs.
The volumes contain well-illustrated engravings. There is Voltaire’s bust on the inner front of the books. The engravings were created by Baquoy, Masquelier, Patas and Tardieu, based on the drawings of the younger Moreau.
The Voltaire collection contains other highly respected works of Balzac, Corneille, Molière, Racine and Rousseau.
The bequests from Professor Előd Halász and Professor Wolfgang Bachofer.
Our library acquired these two collections in 2007 that contain special rare books published between 1793 and 1848 in German language.
Professor Lajos Lőrincze’s bequest
It is a great honour for us to have this collection that contains the oldest book in our library which is a gospel published in 1619 in Latin and German languages, while the oldest Hungarian book is a Hungarian-Latin-German dictionary from 1708 edited by Albert Szenczi Molnár.
Please send your research permit form to the following e-mail address:
Csáth – Kosztolányi hand-written literary bequest
This collection contains 1049 documents such as manuscripts, diaries, personal notes, literary drafts, letters, novels, literary translations, reminiscences, literary and musical criticisms, family memories and photos.
The head researcher of this collection is Zsuzsanna Arany PhD who is an associate professor at the Faculty of Modern Philology and Social Sciences at the University of Pannonia, and at the same time acts as Director of the Sziveri János Institute.
The institute as a Central and Eastern European Literature and Social Sciences Research Centre deals with Hungarian literary relations within and the cross-borders of Hungary, as well as with the research of interactions between Hungarian and European literature and culture.
The hand-written bequest of the Csáth-Kosztolányi family provides great help to the biography of the famous Hungarian author Dezső Kosztolányi and his family members. The collection also allows us to expand our knowledge of French and Hungarian literary relationships.
The Csáth – Kosztolányi literary bequest is accessible onsite, only with the permission by Professor Judit Navracsics, the Dean of the Faculty of Modern Philology and Social Sciences.
Please send your research permit form to the following e-mail address: