The Incunable Collection of the ELTE University Library

Abstract

The paper presents the incunable collection of the ELTE University Library, which is the third largest one in the country. The collection has been continuously augmented since the beginnings of the history of the library, its even now existing structure had been formed between 1879 and 1882. The apiece survey of the collection can be found in the printed catalogue that reviews and describes all the incunable collections that are in the possession of public libraries, archives and museums in Hungary. (Catalogus incunabulorum quae in bibliothecis publicis Hungariae asservantur, ediderunt Géza Sajó, Erzsébet Soltész, I–II, Budapestini 1970 Akadémiai Kiadó). This is the only collection of the library that includes Hungarica prints, namely works that were printed before 31st December 1500, and they originate either from Hungary or they were written by Hungarian author. The century that followed the organization of the collection had augmented it with ca. a hundred works. Not the purchasing was the cause of this accession, but rather finding items in other storages of the library and relocating, recategorizing them.