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National Bibliography of Hungary
Retrospective Bibliography | Current Bibliography Hungary has a rich history of bibliography in general. A national repository was established in Hungary in 1802 with the founding of the National Library. From that point on there was a move to obtain a copy of every work published in Hungarian for the library. Initially, the collection was based on the private library of Count Ferenc Szechenyi, donated to the nation in 1802. The generous donation of the library's namesake inspired many in Hungary to donate materials to the library, continuing the development of the collection. In 1808 the Hungarian National Assembly established the Hungarian National Museum with the mission of collecting historical and archeological materials to be added to the collection. The goal of comprehensive collection of Hungarian materials was supported by the passage of a mandatory deposit law, first passed in 1840 requiring one copy of each publication to be added to the library's collection. The purpose of the library was clearly defined from its inception and has changed little. Its mission as stated on the library's webpage (http://www.oszk.hu) is to collect: 1. all works published within the borders of Hungary at a given time, in whatever language they may be written 2. all works published in Hungarian 3. all works written by Hungarian authors, or with the collaboration of Hungarians, in other languages and published outside of Hungary 4. all works published abroad in foreign languages with an Hungarian aspect The collection became the focal point of interest for those compiling comprehensive bibliographies of Hungarian works. A number of bibliographers have worked in the library but perhaps none so renowned as Geza Petrik who compiled the most extensive retrospective national bibliography of Hungarian titles spanning works published from 1712 to 1920. Hungary has continued its tradition of rich and varied bibliographic sources taking full advantage of the electronic options available today. As will be clear from the list below, they have the largest number and most advanced resources, freely available for national bibliography. Note: This page is structured in a slightly different way from others in this guide. Since so many of the Hungarian national bibliographic sources exist in electronic form, their description has been integrated with the general description of the printed resources.
As in so many of the East European countries, the publication of the national bibliography has been inconsistent during certain periods. The Hungarians began compilation and publication of their national bibliographic sources early on. However, until the 1940s there was no one title which consistently listed all the publications of Hungary. Instead, the bibliography appeared in different publications during different periods. Czvittinger, David. Specimen Hungariae Literatae, 1711. Szabo, Karoly. Regi Magyar Konyvtar. 1879 Petrik, Geza. Magyarorszag bibliographiaja: 1712-1860. 1888-1892 Petrik, Geza. Magyar konyveszet: 1860-1875. 1885 Kiszlingstein, Sandor Magyar konyveszet: 1876-1886. 1890 Petrik, Geza. Magyar konyveszet: 1886-1900. v.1 1908, v.2 1913 Petrik, Geza. Magyar konyveszet 1900-1910. 1913, 1928 Barcza, Imre. Magyar konyveszet: 1911-1920. 1939, 1942 Geza Petrik's achievement is truly remarkable. The more so, as he was working alone in the creation of his bibliographies, which included the contents of collected works, series and some periodicals. The bibliography is not entirely comprehensive. The National Library, motivated by an attempt to redistribute materials that came into the public domain in the 1950s, has attempted to fill the gaps and correct the errors found in Petrik's bibliography by producing a more complete record of Hungary's publications. The result of this work took the form of a fifth volume to Petrik's original four volume set. This volume listed some 6,000 18th century publications, lacking from the original bibliography. The fifth volume also includes a new chronological index covering the titles in all of the original publication. There was no one series for the national bibliography for this period. Blanka Pikler edited a series of volumes published from 1924-1926 entitled Magyar Konyveszet. These volumes listed titles issued from 1921-1923 in an alphabetical list. There was a subject index of Hungarian books also published for these years. From 1924-1929 the announcements of newly published titles were included in the Hungarian journal Corvina. This was really a trade journal directed at the publishers and booksellers of Hungary. In 1931 Pal Gulyas edited a publication entitled Magyar konyveszet, which listed new publications. From 1931-1935 this publication was issued in quarterly cumulations as a supplement to Corvina. The University of Illinois does not hold the titles that cover 1921-1935. From 1936-1941 the National Library published annual volumes under the same title. These volumes were edited by Ella Szollas, Olga Droszt and Julia Mokcsay. Recently the National Library has issued a retrospective bibliography for the years 1921-1944. This work is not available online at present. It is the only period for which there is no online access to Hungarian publications.
Szabo,
Karoly. Regi magyar konyvtar. Budapest: Magyar Tudomanyos
Akademia, 1879-1898. 3v. in 4.
This is a truly remarkable source which tracks the early history of book publishing in Hungary. The online tool has expanded its accessibility, with its high quality images of the sources described in the bibliography. The bibliography was compiled by Karoly Szabo. It chronologically lists books published in Hungarian and about Hungary during the years 1473 to 1711. Volume one lists nearly 1800 titles published in Hungarian from 1531 to 1711. The second volume compiles nearly 2500 titles published in Hungary but in languages other than Hungarian from 1473 to 1711. Volume three lists over 4800 titles by Hungarian authors, published abroad. As with the other resources available at the website of the National Library, Szabo's bibliography is fully searchable. The search interface is in Hungarian and requires the use of the appropriate diacritics.
This is a biobibliographical source covering some 30,000 Hungarian authors and their works in Hungarian. Entries are arranged alphabetically. The bibliographies are as thorough as was possible for the compiler and include references to newspaper and periodical articles as well as books. This work is available online at the National Library website. It is readily searchable with both a brief search and an advanced search capability. The entries are complete with the same information contained in the bibliography. A sample entry from the online version is displayed below to give some idea of the wealth of information available in this source. A continuation of this work was begun by Pal Gulyas but was never completed. The six volumes published cover entries under the letter A through D.
Magyar
Konyveszet. 1712/1860-1911/1920. Budapest, 1882-1942.
6v. in 12.
While the title of this work varies over time (the series was published under the title Magyarorszag bibliografiaja from 1712-1860), all volumes are primarily an alphabetical list of the books in Hungarian, published within the borders of Hungary and deposited in the Hungarian National Library. For the years 1712-1860, 1860-1875 and 1901-1910, periodical titles with their contents are listed. The focus is on Hungarian language publications and only the volumes for the early years, 1712-1860 include foreign language publications and Hungarica. Subject indexes were only published for the 1860-1900. Entries for monographic works included in this catalog have also been made freely available online at the National Library. These catalogs are fully searchable. There are simple and advanced search interfaces all requiring a knowledge of the Hungarian language.There is no English language interface in this database. The search interface also requires the use of diacritics. The results do duplicate the records in the published volumes. The format in which they are presented is somewhat different. The linked materials demonstrate the differences in the catalogs.
Magyar
Konyveszet: 1936-1941. Budapest: Kiadja az Orszagos Szechenyi Konyvtar. 1939-1944.
6 v. This alphabetical list of publications was issued by the National Library from 1936 through 1941. It was the only national bibliographic record for this important period. The records for series include the titles of individual volumes. The individual titles are also listed separately under their individual authors or titles.
The entry above is taken from th 1937 volume of the Magyar Konyveszet. The volumes listed as a part of this series also have separate entries under each of the individual authors.
The national bibliography is still issued under this title today. It includes all monographic publications issued in Hungary. It also includes maps, records and music publications. The bibliography is arranged by UDC (Universal Decimal Classification) making it subject accessible for those familiar with the Dewey subject arrangement. The series was issued semi-monthly from 1961 on. Every issue has an index. Author indexes and and index of series are included. An index of periodicals is issued separately under the title Magyar folyoiratok repertoriuma.
As can be seen from the example on the left, the entries provide extensive descriptions. Collections include lists of the contents of the volumes. An annual compilation under the title Magyar Konyveszet also offers this information, but lacks the detailed subject information included in this bibliography.
This part of the national bibliography is also not available online. While many of the records contained in its pages can be found in the union catalog at the National Library website, the older records do not include the detail that is available in the national bibliography.
Magyar nemzeti bibliografia.
Konyvek bibliografia. Budapest: Orszagos Szechenyi Konyvtar. 1977 -. The national bibliography of Hungary has been published under a number of titles. This one, adopted in 1977, has been maintained. The series cited here is the main series for books. It continues Magyar Nemzeti Bibliografia = Bibliografia Hungarica which was published from January of 1946 to 1977 as a monthly publication. The records from this bibliography are listed in part in the catalog of the National Library, HEKTOR. Records for books published between 1976 and 2001 can be accessed at http://w3.oszk.hu/hektor.htm. A sample of the most recent issues of the bibliography, usually the last five or six issues of the current year, are available at http://szaoszerv.oszk.hu/mnbkb/index.html .
The record above shows the kind of detail one can expect from the records in HEKTOR. Many of the elements in the record are linked allowing the user to readily find related materials. Also available in HEKTOR are some of the more current issues of the national bibliography. At this writing, HEKTOR included records from issues of the following issues of the bibliography: v.56:3-24 and v.57:1-6. The paper bibliography was issued semimonthly and was arranged by subject. Each issue included an author and title index. The online version in HEKTOR is current to publications issued in 2002. More recent materials can be found in either the paper copy of the bibliography or, for very current titles such as those published in the last few months, it is possible to search the online version of the national bibliography at http://szaoszerv.oszk.hu/mnbkb/index.html . The issues that are provided are available in html or pdf format. The online version of the bibliography is not searchable. Rather the entries are accessible under broad subject categories. For a complete list of resources at the national library site see our library resources page.
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Szinnyei,
Jozef
Much
of this work was compiled by Gesa Petrik, one of Hungary's most important
bibliographers. Petrik compiled much of this bibliography alone, making
the work all that more impressive. These difficult circumstances also
explain some of the errors and omissions of the original publication.
Recognizing that some titles were omitted from the original publication
librarians at the National Library have set about preparing volumes
that include those titles.
Magyar
Nemzeti Bibliografia
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Slavic Library | Slavic Reference Service Russian and East European Studies Center University Library Gateway | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Last updated: 01/26/06 Comments to: Helen Sullivan |