Publisher's preface

Today we publish the very first book written by Victor Segesvary which is, until today, one of the few systematic histories of a private library in Hungary that, in particular, played a considerable role in the nation's cultural life.

The present volume was first published in Budapest, in 1992, by the Ráday Collection (Ráday Gyűjtemény). This editio princeps was brought out at the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the death of Gedeon Ráday, one of the founders of the library. We publish electronically this volume with the permission of the Ráday Collection.

The Hague (Holland), July 20, 2005
Mikes International

Foreword

The Roman poet Horatius counseled, "Novum prematur in annum" let your manuscript rest for nine years before you publish it. The monograph by Viktor Segesváry had waited thirty six years to appear. True, not of his volition.

Viktor Segesváry graduated from the Reformed Theological Academy in Budapest in 1952 and followed his interests to become the librarian of the Ráday library of the Danubian Reformed Church. The director of the library was Professor László Pap. He developed the library, which previously had only served the pedagogical needs of the Academy into a research institution and thus transformed the Ráday library into one of the scholarly centers of the Reformed Church. In the 1950s, the political leadership already shackled the government research institutes, but the entities of the Church could still act relatively freely. The lectures at the Ráday Collection proved to be a regular meeting place of various specialists, who could familiarize themselves with the treasures of the Collection, an integral component of Hungary's historic heritage. The first reviews of the history of the Ráday family's library were also presented there.

László Pap entrusted Segesváry with the task of writing the history of the Ráday family library that formed a part of the collection. It was well known that this library constituted the most complete collection of works of the European Enlightenment in Hungary, but up to that point, no systematic research concerning it had been done. It was not determined whether Gedeon Ráday, the poet and scholar, had established his library only for his own pleasure, or had more far-reaching goals in mind. In other words, to what degree did the collection serve to inform Reformed intellectuals, who in the 18th century were denied access to public life, in order to further a conscious Protestant cultural policy?

The main source of Segesváry's work was the family archives which revealed not only the references of the political and cultural aspects of the collecting process, but made it possible to determine the time, the method, and the price of almost every publication. Thus, the history of the library contributes not only to the awareness of Protestant culture, but also to the knowledge of valuable data about the collection and purchase of books in Hungary.

Professor József Szauder, a well-known specialist of the 18th century Hungarian literature, who unfortunately deceased at an early age, edited the completed manuscript. Based on his recommendation, the Institute of Literature of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences assumed the task of publishing the work. The revolution of 1956 and the emigration of Viktor Segesváry prevented its publication. The work, however, has not lost any of its significance during this enforced "rest," so with the approval of the author we publish the original 1956 text. We only updated the bibliography and corrected the bibliographical notations that have changed in the intervening years. We are convinced that the publication of this monograph represents a valuable contribution to a more thorough understanding of Hungarian cultural aspirations in the 18th century.

Kálmán Benda