BABEŞ BOLYAI UNIVERSITY SUPRALIBROS IN THE COLLECTION OF THE TELEKI-BOLYAI LIBRARY FROM TÂRGU MUREŞ (16-19 TH CENTURY)

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1 BABEŞ BOLYAI UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF REFORMED THEOLOGY SUPRALIBROS IN THE COLLECTION OF THE TELEKI-BOLYAI LIBRARY FROM TÂRGU MUREŞ (16-19 TH CENTURY) Ph.D. Dissertation Summary Doctoral Adviser: Dr. BUZOGÁNY DEZIDERIU Associate Proffesor Author: ANNAMÁRIA LÁSZLÓ KIMPIÁN Doctoral Candidate CLUJ NAPOCA 2012

2 ABSTRACT The Teleki-Bolyai Library in Targu-Mures is one of the richest collections of old books in Transylvania, haven of past centuries European culture. The more than 200,000 volumes make up a collection that has an encyclopaedic structure, among which many bibliophile rarities are kept. The Teleki-Bolyai collection is a result of the joining of two great collections: Teleki with 40,000 volumes and Bolyai with 80,000 volumes. To this it was later added the so called Mixt Collection, books from several established Transylvanian libraries: Christian (religious) schools, personal libraries and the library of the Franciscan Monastery from Calugareni (Mures County). Our task is the identification and cataloguing of the supralibros kept in these collections. The founder of the library, Count Teleki Samuel acquired the books from all over Europe. As one of the foremost and learned bibliophiles of his time, Teleki kept all the individual signs of the purchased books, he did not remove the bookplates (ex-libris) and he did not change the bindings. Thus the shelves of the library show a wide range of binding styles, from the Gothic to the Rococo. Maintaining the original bindings meant that the supralibros were also saved on the covers of these books. Among the 40,000 volumes of the collection we have found 158 supralibros. This does not mean that we have the same number of owners as many supralibros have several versions. The founder of the library alone used at least seven versions of supralibros to mark his books. The collection of the Bolayai Library was established over many years under the aegis of the Calvinist College in Targu-Mures. The college was set up as Schola Particula in The first written account regarding the books of this library date from 1650, but it must have had an earlier start. 1 Checking the 80,000 volumes of this collection, we have found 270 supralibros. This collection is much more interesting than that of Count Teleki as far as the reconstruction of each books trail is concerned and the role of these books in local cultural and spiritual life. The Teleki Library is the result of one man s vast knowledge, culture and perseverance 2, but the books that reached the shelves of the college library as donations, 1 Koncz József: A Marosvásárhelyi Evang. Reform. Kollégium története ( ). Second Revised Edition. Mentor Kiadó, Marosvásárhely, He waited for sixteen years to get hold of Serveto Miquel s Christianismi Restitutio. See Deé Nagy Anikó: A könyvtáralapító Teleki Sámuel. Az Erdélyi Múzeum Egyesület kiadása, Kolozsvár,

3 reflect the interests, the level of culture and education of the intellectuals of the town and surroundings. The library of the institution was mostly enriched by donation. Beginning with18th century beside the donation an important factor in the enrichment was the purchasing of books needed for syllabus. Alumni, college professors and some of the town intellectuals donated their private collections to the library of the college. 3 This is why there are so many books printed in the Low Countries. This way the volumes of the library provide us with information regarding the trails of these students: which Western European universities have they attended and what influences have marked their spiritual progress. The collections of the professors show us the sources they used, how much of European scientific literature was available to them, what they have used for the syllabus and what amount of money was spent for purchasing the books and enriching their private libraries. All of the above played a significant role regarding the quality of teaching and ultimately they influenced the formation of the local elite. Due to the fact that the library of this college is made up of a Protestant collection, were we have books donated by families, collectors, Protestant intellectuals, analysing the contents of these volumes one can find out what kind of cultural and spiritual influences have shaped these Protestant intellectuals from around Targu-Mures. The so called Mix (Miscellaneous) Collection is made up of books from the Unitarian Gymnasium from Cristuru Secuiesc, the library of the Calugaren Franciscan Monastery (Mures County), castles (Teleki from Gornesti, Haller from Sanpaul, Toldalagi from Corunca, all in Mures County), collections of several monasteries (Lazarea, Harghita County) and from other Christian schools (the Catholic school from Orastie, Alba County, the Protestant one from Sighetu Marmatiei, Maramures County, catholic gymnasium from Targu-Mures). In this collection we have found 161 supralibros. By identifying these and by decoding the adjacent signs of ownership (bookplates, handwritings) the books of this collection inform us on the area of interest and education of intellectuals not just from Tragu-Mures, but from a wider geographic area (Transylvania). 3 According to an urban legend each alumni that went on studying abroad, had an obligation to donate to the library books worth one golden coin.

4 There is a fourth collection of old books in the Library, established later, made up of the doublets of books from the other three collections. In the case of old books one cannot really talk about doublets because these volumes might contain individual signs like: bookplates, supralibros, handwritten notes. In one of these volumes we have found a note of donation and a poem by Kovasznai Sandor, professor at Calvinist College in Targu-Mures, towards one of his students. 4 Another one contains the bookplate of Szechenyi Ferenc, the founder of the Hungarian National Library and Museum. 5 In this collection we found 14 supralibros. Among the volumes of the Teleki-Bolyai Library there are a number of 603 supralibros. Out of these we have managed to identify 171, among which 66 represent coats of arms (includes the ones with symbols), 83 supralibros with monograms and 22 represent names. To have a general view as clear as possible, we have categorised the supralibros in the following categories: supralibros of sovereigns, supralibros of institutions (schools and monasteries), supralibros of church leaders (separately catholic and protestant), supralibros of aristocrats, of intellectuals, supralibros of ladies and of donations. The oldest supralibros in the collections of the Teleki-Bolyai Library dates from The book belonged to Tobiasi (Thabiasi) Gyorgy (end of 15 th century-1543) who studied in Bologna and it was probably here that he purchased the four volumes of Janus Pannonius and where the binding was made. On the front cover one can read the name of the author and the collective title Opera, the back cover has the monogram of the owner and the year of the binding. The study of supralibros is more than just identifying a cataloguing. These symbols of ownership have not only played an important role in the decoration of books, but they are also important sources regarding cultural history and the history of books. Supralibros help us find out what the owner of a certain book has been reading, to what philosophical tradition did he belonged to, we can also find out his circle of interests, the evolution and development of his personality. The identification of supralibros and other signs of ownership help us reconstruct 4 Call Nr.: 180/ Call Nr.: 1808/2989. For reproduction of the bookplate see: Deé Nagy Anikó: A marosvásárhelyi Teleki-Bolyai könyvtár ex librisei. Balassi Kiadó Polis Könyvkiadó, Budapest Kolozsvár, Photo No. 62.

5 long lost collections. The presence of a supralibros can also mean that that particular book was for some reason important to the owner, as applying a supralibros meant extra cost. It was either applied onto the original leather cover or the whole binding of the volume was changed and the supralibros applied. The path of a book from its origin and to Transylvania and then to the collections of the Teleki-Bolyai Library can be traced because of the supralibros. The information concealed in these symbols are even more important to us if they the owner was Transylvanian. In this case the supralibros shows us the interval between the publishing of the book and its arrival to Transylvania, i.e. how long did it take for the Transylvanian intellectuals to get hold of new information. In the volumes of the Teleki-Bolyai Library one finds a many signs/symbols of ownership: bookplates, supralibros, handwritten notes on the title page and on one of the endpapers. The history of books is not only interesting regarding the history of printing. The books are not made just for the sake of technological achievements, but to be used by as many as possible, as long as possible and of course to be browsed usefully. No matter what kind of old book (religious, scientific, literary, philosophic) is one holding in its hands, while browsing through these volumes one finds traces of distant readers. The owners of these books have inscribed not just their monograms and names, but on the edges of the pages they left their opinions or ideas that were induced by reading the text, or they have underlined words, sentences. These signs are very important for the researchers of cultural history. Moreover these traces are more valuable if one knows their origins. By identifying the symbols of ownership one can track the establishing and development of personal or institutional collections. During the cataloguing of the supralibros, in a number of cases the only symbol of ownership was the supralibros on the cover of the book. This is why a great deal of monogram-supralibros have not yet been identified. Reviewing the collections of the library and comparing the supralibros with those already known by the speciality literature, one can say that in the library of Targu Mures all types of supralibros can be found, comprising all the methods of execution and style and the owners came from a variety of social classes.

6 Taking into account the number of identified supralibros we consider our endeavour a successful one. We managed to compile a catalogue of these supralibros found at the Teleki- Bolyai Library, discovered new owners: Balthazar Logan, Countess Rachel Bourchier, Charles de Sainte-Maure, Count de Montaussier, Saxon Prince Christian I., the renowned librarian of the Imperial Library from Vienna Franz Adam Kollar or the patron of the Calvinist College, Count Bethlen Pal. This is not a random list of names; their supralibros are the only sign of ownership on the books, either as coats of arms or monograms. On the shelves of the library there are several items that can be found in speciality literature. In books or studies one can often find reproductions of the supralibros of abbot Alexander Fixlmiller of the Kremsmunster monastery or that of cardinals Forgach Ferenc and Szelepcsenyi Gyorgy. The books of Austrian chancellor Kaunitz are scattered throughout Europe, from the Teleki Library to the British Library. The catalogue of the supralibros is made up of three parts: identified, identified but with unclear origins and unidentified. The catalogue of identified ownerships, regardless of what type the supralibros is (with coat of arms, symbolic, monogram or name), the owners are presented alphabetically. Thus it is easier to search, contrary to a chronological catalogue. In the case of unidentified supralibros the catalogue begins with the coats of arms followed by monogram-supralibros, the latter arranged alphabetically. The description of the identified supralibros has the following elements: - name of the owner, in some of the cases as it appears in the international literature and not as it appears on the supralibros. This information is followed by the biographical data. - type of supralibros coat of arms, symbolic, monogram, name and all variants of the aforementioned, - motto of the owner, - size of the supralibros, - concordance with international catalogues (bibliographic description can be found at the annexed Bibliography).

7 The published studies and the catalogue of the supralibros reflect the results of our research up to this date. All supralibros found at the Teleki Library are included in the catalogue. Each supralibros is has a pencil copy or a photograph taken, most of them also have the references. The databases accessed through the internet also have the date noted: year, month, day. The cataloguing of the supralibros was carried out on site at the Teleki-Bolyai Library, Targu-Mures, and in the identification a great help were the two grants offered by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Domus Hungarica (2003 and 2008) that made it possible to work two months at the Hungarian National Library, the Szechenyi Library.

8 Contents Introduction 5 I. Sign of ownership and/or binding ornament? The concept of supralibros in speciality literature 9 II. Historical and content analysis of literature regarding the supralibros 13 II. a. An overview and description of online databases 19 III. The history of the supralibros 21 IV. The difficulties of dating supralibros 25 V. The technique of making a supralibros 29 VI. Types of supralibros 31 VI. a. Supralibros with coats of arms 32 VI. b. Supralibros with symbols 35 VI. c. Supralibros with monograms 36 VI. d. Name supralibros 37 VII. The supralibros of the Teleki-Bolyai Libray from Targu-Mures 37 VII. 1. Identified supralibros from the Teleki-Bolyai Library 43 VII. 1. a. The methodology of compiling the catalogue of the identified supralibros 43 VII. a. Supralibros of sovereigns 45 VII. b. Supralibros of institutions 47 VII. b. 1. Supralibros of schools 47 VII. b School book prizes 49

9 VII. b. 2. Supralibros from monasteries 53 VII. c. Supralibros of aristocrat s 55 VII. d. Supralibros of women 61 VII. e. Supralibros of churchman 63 VII. e. 1. Supralibros of Catholic high priests 64 VII. e. 2. Supralibros of Protestant clerics 70 VII. f. Supralibros of secular intellectuals (teachers, writers, librarians) 78 VII. g. Book owners with unknown profession 81 VII. h. Supralibros of donation 84 VIII. Supralibros made in Transylvania 86 IX. Summary 90 X. Rezumat 92 X. a. Contents 97 XI. Abstract 99 XI. a. Contents 104 XII. Résumé 106 XII. a. Table des matières 111 XIII. Catalogue of the supralibros 113 XIII. a. The catalogue of the identified supralibros 114 XIII b. Coat of arms supralibros of uncertain purpose 193 XIII c. Unidentified supralibros 195 XIV. Bibliography 285

10 Key-words Teleki-Bolyai Library Teleki Library Bolyai Library Mix (Miscellaneous) Collection Teleki Sámuel Supralibros Supralibros with coats of arms Supralibros with symbols Supralibros with monograms Name supralibros History of cultur History of books Signs of ownership Catalogue of the supralibros