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the first serious history of the Corvina was written in 1766, the dissertation of
Xystus Paulus Schier (1727-1772). The Corvina became a symbol of the country’s
library, which was increasingly demanded by the intellectuals of Hungary, and
was soon to be called the national library. The Corvina, which was part of the
hungarus consciousness starting from the 15th century, became a fundamental
pillar of the Hungarian consciousness, while at the same time allowing the people
who lived in the Hungarian Kingdom to, quite rightly, never give up on the idea
that the history of this great library would also illuminate their own history. It is
my belief that the history of the Bibliotheca Corvina, its fate, mission and destiny,
is a truly genuine European history.
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