Huncart 91-95, National Szechenyi Library

4.1.The Map Department of the National Széchenyi Library

Although the Map Department only became an independent unit within the National Széchenyi Library in 1939, the core of its collection has been a part of the stock of the Library ever since its foundation. This is explained by the fact that at the time Count Ferenc Széchenyi donated his carefully collected library and other collections to the Hungarian nation in 1802, establishing the basis of a national library (and museum), there were several maps and atlases among the items of donation. Exact number of these relics cannot be ascertained today, but no less than 1,412 maps and 121 atlases bear the insignia "Ex Bibl. Com. F. Széchenyi". While most of the 212 manuscript maps of this collection covers Hungarian territory, the overwhelming part of the 1,198 printed maps are displaying various foreign lands. Széchenyi had obtained these latter pieces through agents. The bulk of the atlases date from the 18th century.
Growth of cartographic stock was slow during the initial years. In contrast to that, in the 1830s the Library had acquired, through both grants and purchases two superb private libraries, that included a significant and valuable collection of several hundred maps - a great number at that time. In addition to these a purchase in 1851 of a third large private collection again greatly increased the number of maps. Although most of them were 18th century sheets, they included some very early pieces of work from the 16th century.
An especially valuable set of cartography augmented the stock of the Library through expert selection in 1895, that included 12 manuscript and 167 printed maps, as well as 38 atlases. Worth noting from among these works is a 105-piece map series showing Hungary, with maps by almost all famous European cartographers of the 16th and 17th centuries. The atlases also include several that date from these centuries, that also marked the golden age of atlas cartography.
The most important acquisition from the interwar years (1926 and after) are considered a set of cadastral maps partly printed and partly in manuscript form, and manuscript property sketches (croquis) from the National Survey Map Archives.
No significant damage was caused to the maps during the 1944-45 siege of Budapest, although the building itself was hit by an aerial bomb.
A donation of 4,000 (partly manuscript maps) of the State Printing House in 1949, followed by a 500-unit set of the Ethnographic Museum consisting entirely of manuscript maps were of notable value. The latter maps were sheets of settlements showing the new property conditions at the time of abolishing the serf system. The Map Department's collection of manuscript maps were again significantly expanded by a 400-unit set of the Archives of Prince Festetics in 1950.
The largest growth these days comes from the deposit copies of printed materials. A royal edict regulated the supply of such copies from books as early as 1804, while for maps the corresponding act was only passed in 1922.

Maps were registered and kept in the library the same way as books for over a hundred years. Their different nature and shape have increasingly demanded a distinct handling from that of the books. This resulted in the creation in 1935 of the Library's Department of Prints and Maps from materials of single sheets, and paved the way for the establishment in 1939 of the Map Room as an independent department also caring for atlases.

The following objects are collected by the Map Dept: maps, atlases, relief maps, globes (terrestrial and celestial), landscape drawings or vedutes (up to 1800). As part of the national library it particularly seeks to preserve

maps produced in Hungary (until 1918 considering the historical /larger/ Hungary),
maps produced abroad but featuring Hungarian territory,
cartographic works produced in part or entirely by Hungarian authors,
works based partly or entirely on the Hungarian language.

Besides those above as priority it also collects major maps, atlases (national, world or thematic) published by neighbouring countries, cartographic products reflecting historical, economic or other relations with Hungary, or mirroring influence on cartographic development on this country, as well as maps that demonstrate the general state of cartography in the different ages (two copies per printed maps possibility permitting). On the other hand military maps, poster, outline maps, cartographic supplements of books, as well as cadastral maps since 1971 are not collected.
The Map Department's collection are completed by a 3,000-volume supplementary library of cartographic professional literature, handbooks, encyclopaedias etc., including 23 different Hungarian and foreign professional journals.

The maps of the Map Dept are subdivided into several groups, namely: manuscript maps, printed maps showing Hungary or parts of it (until 1918: historical Hungary), other printed maps, landscape drawings, wall maps, relief maps, atlases, manuscript and printed cadastral maps, property sketches, globes. Most of the manuscript maps cover Hungarian territory. They include topographic maps of several Hungarian counties from the 18th century, drawn by Samuel Mikoviny (1700-1750), pioneer of modern Hungarian cartography. Hydrographic maps from the late 18th and early 19th centuries showing river control and drainage works are also very important. The earliest pieces of this group include two portolan maps of Hessel Gerrits drawn on parchment in 1621 and 1623. The Department also keeps the first cave map of Europe featuring the Aggtelek Stalactite Cave from 1794.

Mention should also be made however of Gratiosus Benincasa's 7-sheet portolan atlas made in 1474, showing the Mediterranean and the eastern shores of the Atlantic Ocean from the North Sea to present day Liberia. Although this work is one of the most valuable pieces of the entire Library but, as a work predating 1500, it is kept not by the Map Dept but by the Manuscript Department. The Library - and not the Map Dept (because it is part of a one-time closed private collection) - also possesses the only surviving copy of the oldest known map of Hungary made by Lazarus, secretary of Tamás Bakócz, archbishop of Esztergom, and printed by Petrus Apianus in Ingolstadt (Germany) in 1528.

The Department does hold however the works of outstanding Hungarian cartographers besides those of almost all famous European mapmakers of the 16th - 18th centuries. Among those made by foreigners the recently discovered fragments of the German version of the Map of Hungary, drawn by Wolfgang Lazius of Vienna in 1556 (whose only copy in Latin language was the one kept in Basle) deserves mentioning.
Likewise among atlases works of major authors of the golden age of atlas cartography are also present, as is a masterpiece in 3 volumes of the dynasty of Willem Jansz. Blaeu from 1640.
From among the globes of the Department an interesting manuscript one, 132 cm in diameter, made by the Hungarian László Perczel in 1862, as well as a real rarity, a combined terrestrial-celestial globe with diameters of 21, 8 and 16 centimetres of the Czech Felkl Company may be mentioned.

Total registered units of the Map Dept now number close to 220,000. This makes it one of the largest cartographic collections of the country. Considering works related to Hungary however, it is the most comprehensive and exceptionally rich map archives in this country.

Handling of maps of the Department are made easier by catalogues. They include: alphabetical (by author and address), professional (based on the universal decimal classification), by press and publisher. Besides these atlases have chronological, while manuscript maps have printed volume catalogues, too (see next chapter).

Due to lack of space the Department had been moved several times into different buildings at various locations of Budapest during the first 35 years of its existence before finding its final and fitting place in the west wing of the one-time royal palace of Buda in 1975.

Manuscript Maps in the Map Department of the National Széchenyi Library. (Volume I. Separate Manuscript Maps)

The second largest manuscript map collection in Hungary is housed by the Map Department of the National Széchenyi Library. Its origins are identical with the Library itself, as the bequest (dating from 1802) of the library's founder Ferenc Szé-chényi contained a number of maps, among them over 200 manuscript maps. Over the years the number of manuscript maps has gradually grown, but there were only three instances of considerable increase: the incorporation of the sets of the State Printing House between the two world wars, of the Museum of Ethnography, and of the Keszthely Archives of Prince Festetics following the second world war. As a result the Department was keeping a set of 2,081 units at the time of producing the register, apart from the cadastral manuscript maps and property sketches that preceded them in the mid-19th century. The volume being reviewed here is a catalogue of these works.
The majority of these manuscript maps were made during the 18th and 19th centuries and most of them are unique pieces of work. They contain a huge amount of data that only survived in these maps. As a result they are valuable source materials for various studies. Maps showing the hydrography provide especially good information on the former terrain conditions.

The backbone of the volume is formed by the description of titles of maps. Each unit is attributed a detailed and systematic description (annotation).

The description of each map contains the following:

Author Provided that the map bears the name or it can be ascertained by some other way.

Title If there originally was no title, or is missing due to damage, a title is given that fits the map's content and language.

Scale When only linear scale is displayed on the map, unit length is given in mm. Units in other than metric system are conversed.

Place of production If not expressly given, but the geographical area of the author's activity is known, then this area is recorded.

Time of production For maps without dates the author's period of activity serves as basis but, as a last resort, style of drawing can also give a clue.

Draughtsman, copier If different from the author, or if the map is only a copy, then the person's name is always recorded provided it can be ascertained.

Size Given with 0.5 cm accuracy within the neat lines, for maps without borders full size is given, for atlases: height of spine, for globes diametre.

Insets In some cases it happens that a detail of the main map is enlarged next to it, or a graphic view is displayed with a title; they are recorded both at the end of the description and in the index of titles.

The description of the map's content has the following information:

Geographical position of the represented area For settlements or estates:

for those lying inside the present territory of Hungary:
official administrative name of the represented locality, with the name of the present county.
for those lying outside modern Hungary but within its historical borders:
last official Hungarian name (1913), present name and abbreviation of present country.
for those lying in other areas:
generally familiar Hungarian name, present name of the locality, abbreviation of country.

For maps of counties of historical Hungary:
the old Hungarian name of the county.

Names of rivers, lakes, mountains, hills are recorded only in their familiar Hungarian names.

Theme - e.g. fief (socage), hydrological, litigation etc. maps If hint on these subjects is expressly given in the title, then it will not be given in the description.

Colouring, drawing technique e.g. pen-and-ink drawing etc.

Relief representation e.g. hillocks, hachuring etc., lettering, height data.

Forest representation recorded in graphic maps.

Administrative boundaries

Representation methods of settlements.

Built-in and rural ("internal" and "external") areas representation of plot boundaries, buildings, land use in the settlements; other related features.

Road and rail network.

Ornaments cartouche, graphic events, features etc.

Explanation of colours, symbols, texts

Graticule

Material of the map if other than paper (e.g. parchment, transparency etc.).

Origin name of original collection, or person from which or whom it was transferred to the Department.

The items have been recorded alphabetically in the catalogue by the name of the author (or, if missing, by the title). Handling of the volume is facilitated by the following indices:

index of authors, of other persons contributing to the production of the map, of the institutions,
index of titles of works that have been recorded in the catalogue by their authors (in case of maps with more titles - all titles are given, and so are the titles of insets if the have one),
index of content,
index of geographical names,
index of origin.

Works listed in the catalogue are - with a few exceptions - from the area of historical (pre-1918) Hungary. Their subjects are rather varied. The largest group is formed by the so-called fief maps, prepared in the middle of the last century after the abolition of serfdom, and serving the settlement of property conditions of the individual villages. They represent some one-third of the collection (796 items). The number of hydrographic, river control maps made in the late 18th and early 19th centuries are also considerable (148). In that time these two subjects formed the major works of Hungarian surveyors. Still important subjects are agriculture and forestry, boundary dispute (litigation), administrative (topographic) and transport. There is a surprisingly large set of ordnance maps and those of military history (159). There are many other subjects represented by a few maps each. Among works recorded there is an agricultural and a mining manuscript atlas, four relief maps and a globe of 132 cm in diameter.

It was already mentioned that the set of manuscript maps have been built up of 4 major groups. The collection of Ferenc Széchenyi, the founder of the library, most of which was bought by his agents, is a medley; it does not seem to be a result of purposeful collecting. Many of them show the Hungarian- Turkish frontier zone of the 18th century.

The collection acquired from the archives of the family of Prince Festetics is basically divided into two groups. One of them is a mixture, consisting chiefly of 18th century maps. They had been collected by György (Georg) Festetics (1755-1819), a member of the family who had a great impact on Hungarian cultural life. Of the maps the topographic maps of 9 Hungarian counties made by Samuel Mikoviny (1700-1750), founder of modern Hungarian cartography, are considered by Hungarian scholars as especially valuable. Aspects of defence and military history are also numerous here, depicting 18th century Hungarian-Turkish frontier areas along the rivers Una, Sava and Danube. The other group of maps represent the latifundium of the Festetics family with its agricultural and forestry units totalling 100,000 hectares.

Most of the maps transferred from the Ethnographic Department of the Hungarian National Museum consist of fiefs of settlements in areas united with Austria and Czechoslovakia after the first world war. Among those from the State Printing House there are several administrative maps (e.g. of cadastral administration).

With the present volume activities of this kind have not been finished by the Map Department. Catalogues of other (e.g. cadastral) manuscript maps are also expected to be published in the future.

both chapters by
Dr. Klára PATAY
Curator of the Map Department
National Széchenyi Library
Budapest

Jump to the Homepage of Department of Cartography and Geoinformatics, Eötvös University, Budapest

Author	Provided that the map bears the name or it can be ascertained by some other way.
Title	If there originally was no title, or is missing due to damage, a title is given that fits the map's content and language.
Scale	When only linear scale is displayed on the map, unit length is given in mm. Units in other than metric system are conversed.
Place of production	If not expressly given, but the geographical area of the author's activity is known, then this area is recorded.
Time of production	For maps without dates the author's period of activity serves as basis but, as a last resort, style of drawing can also give a clue.
Draughtsman, copier	If different from the author, or if the map is only a copy, then the person's name is always recorded provided it can be ascertained.
Size	Given with 0.5 cm accuracy within the neat lines, for maps without borders full size is given, for atlases: height of spine, for globes diametre.
Insets	In some cases it happens that a detail of the main map is enlarged next to it, or a graphic view is displayed with a title; they are recorded both at the end of the description and in the index of titles.

Geographical position of the represented area	For settlements or estates: for those lying inside the present territory of Hungary: official administrative name of the represented locality, with the name of the present county. for those lying outside modern Hungary but within its historical borders: last official Hungarian name (1913), present name and abbreviation of present country. for those lying in other areas: generally familiar Hungarian name, present name of the locality, abbreviation of country.
	For maps of counties of historical Hungary: the old Hungarian name of the county.
	Names of rivers, lakes, mountains, hills are recorded only in their familiar Hungarian names.
Theme - e.g. fief (socage), hydrological, litigation etc. maps	If hint on these subjects is expressly given in the title, then it will not be given in the description.
Colouring, drawing technique	e.g. pen-and-ink drawing etc.
Relief representation	e.g. hillocks, hachuring etc., lettering, height data.
Forest representation	recorded in graphic maps.
Administrative boundaries
Representation methods of settlements.
Built-in and rural ("internal" and "external") areas	representation of plot boundaries, buildings, land use in the settlements; other related features.
Road and rail network.
Ornaments	cartouche, graphic events, features etc.
Explanation of colours, symbols, texts
Graticule
Material of the map	if other than paper (e.g. parchment, transparency etc.).
Origin	name of original collection, or person from which or whom it was transferred to the Department.