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The Biblotheca Corvina amongst the contemporary collections Why is the Bibliotheca Corvina special? 2008 was deemed the Renaissance Year in Hungary, and at numerous events tied to this distinction it was mentioned countless times that it is the greatest or the second greatest library of that period, with scholars estimating the collection to be 2000-2500 items.! ‘The first question that comes to mind is which library should it be compared to. If we ask about the known libraries in China during the Ming dynasty (1368— 1644) we shall hear of improbably large collections.’ It is similar to many libraries that are known in the Arabic world; one of the most famous ones is the learning centre and library established in Timbuktu during the Mali Empire, which flourished during the Songhai Empire (1464-1492), during the same time Matthias Corvinus was king (1458-1490). None in the Hungarian Kingdom likely knew about it, but probably the book collections of Mehmet II (1444-1446 and 1451-1481) and Bajazid II (1481-1512) were familiar to them. The inventory of the so-called inner library of the Sultan’s Palace is preserved in the Oriental Collection of the Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.* Thanks to the previously referenced analysis we now know the detailed history of the 15'"-16"-century sultans’ libraries. In order to show a comparison, since it might be lesser known than the libraries of the Western Christian sovereigns, within this small aside I will introduce this bibliotheca. Similarly to many kings who ruled the Christian cultural sphere or even the Pope himself, there were Ottoman emperors who also sought to collect all the knowledge of the known world. ‘The collection was designated "the treasury of knowledge”, foreshadowing today’s popular movement to call libraries “knowledge hubs”. The other conventional expression was “the armoury of wisdom”. Oriental scholars also frequently warned against the vanity of unread books. Too many collected but unread, unused books are really just the lack of wisdom, when the quantity and not the quality interests the collector.* In Baghdad, the Persian Ibn Abi Tahir Tayfur (819-893), a librarian and writer, proposed a “world” biobibliography as a general book of authors, Ibn al-Nadim (+995/998) bibliographer of Baghdad followed suit by complied a 1 LoMEIER 1669, 188.; LOMEIER 1680, 204.; Lometer 1705, 157. He mentions 50,000 books, which is obviously a figment of his imagination. We could not find his source, for although he refers to Angelo Poliziano (1454-1494) (PoLızıano 1536, 258-262), his letter does not include this number. Cr. Ferenczy, ed., A Tiz Bambusz Csarnoka, 2003; Tokaji Zs. 2013. Touari 2003. NeEc1Po&LU-KAFADAR-FLEISCHER, eds., Treasures of Knowledge, 2019. AL-JAHIZ (776-868), Kitab al-Hayawan, I, 61; al-Mas ûdi (896-956), Prairies d'Or, II, 374. UR &w D 11
