Preface

In Transylvania, in the erstwhile free royal city of Elisabethopolis, a library fully inaccessible to the public can be found in the local Armenian Church, containing some 2000 old prints. The library is, in effect, a legacy that incorporates the books formerly belonging to the city's Armenian ministers and local intelligentsia. Due to its corpus of books in the Armenian language, the Armenian library of Elisabethopolis is not only a uniquely characteristic treasure of the Carpathian Basin but also a gem of Armenian culture worldwide.

Namely, the significance of the library goes way beyond its valuable early print stock - it belongs among the few book collections that can provide a substantial basis for the partial reconstruction of the culture of the Armenians in 17th-to-19th-century Europe. Although a number of historic Armenian libraries are known outside Armenia (e.g. in Jerusalem, Beirut, Constantinople, etc.), the catalogue of the Armenian library of Elisabethopolis is the first containing data about the Armenian settlements in Europe.

The library as an Armenian Catholic church collection is currently subject to the authority of Archbishop Dr. György Jakubinyi of Alba Iulia, the Armenian Governor. The catalogue has been completed with his generous assistance, as well as the help of Armenian Vicar Endre Szakács of Armenopolis and Parson Tibor Babota (Medias, Elisabethopolis). We are extremely grateful for their contribution!

The production of the catalogue was initiated within the framework of the Armenian historic research project that was begun at the Pázmány Péter Catholic University (Budapest-Piliscsaba) in 2002, with the support of Dr. habil. Sándor Pze, Associate Professor at the university. Of the former students and tutors of the university, Barnabás Guitman, Gábor Horváth, Ákos Orbán, and Mariann Polyák participated in the research. All thanks are due to them as well as historian Kornél Nagy.

In this preface, we also wish to express our gratitude to local Armenian church councillor Maria Vitelar, who has, ever since 1990, guarded and cared for this cultural treasure. It was under her patronage that the current local research could be carried out.