Oldal 9 [9]
Preface: one Ibrary = multiple cults
In 2022, the question “What is the need for a library?” is becoming increasingly
frequent. Many of those who believe that humanity is progressing are particu¬
larly confused by the kilometres of books that have been accumulated in libraries.
‘These people do not understand that the digital library is also a library, and do not
know that we still have a long way to go before the written heritage of humanity
becomes part of the numerical world. Even then, humanity will not progress, but,
let it be enough that technology will. What is a digital library good for? It is used
in the interests of its creators. It can have direct benefits that even accountants
can grasp. It can also have uses that only economists can see. There will always
be people, however, who find it pointless to ask that question, who know that a
library, no matter what its history has been or is, obviously is useful (eo ipso) be¬
cause that is in its nature. It is useful even if it is read carefully, even if its material
is used, and even if this usage goes far beyond taking its individual pieces in hand,
downloading them, or making them the basis of text mining. They preserve the
memories of those who in many ways do not deserve it and even those who do not
want it. Besides, even in the present world, there are libraries that are considered
prestige collections, and there are books that are especially valuable, deemed a
financially sound investment in the manipulated world of ‘value’, otherwise known
as economics.
If we examine the library of the Hungarian King Matthias Hunyadi (1443¬
1490), the Bibliotheca Corvina, we can follow his history along similar lines. Why
and how the collection was created which finally in the opinion of the political
leaders of the Hungarian Kingdom, who were not necessarily more cultured than
nowadays, was meant to be ‘pro decore Regni”, i.e. “for the adornment of the country”.
Was it the idea of the king, or was it encouraged by certain members of the court,
those around the king to collect books? Who were those in this royal court who
considered it important for various reasons? Certainly, it was not the influence of
one person, even if the king himself could be open to the idea. The arrival of Bea¬
trice of Naples (1457-1508) and her entourage to Buda (1476) accelerated the book
collection process. It is also certain that Europe between 1470 and 1520 was more
European than the European Union of today, namely, that Western Christianity
lived in a shared world of values. A world which, by that time, had been searching
for the common roots of these Christian values for a century, and believed to have
found them in Greek and Roman antiquity and early Christianity. All began to
reflect on this heritage from their own perspectives. Within the Christian Church,
similarly to a monk named Martin Luther (1473-1546), the texts of the early
church fathers and of the saints of personal religiosity were published, analysed,