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in praise of the library.** Many books were listed in his work but we cannot be sure wether these were books he had actually seen in Buda, or someone (likely Taddeo Uguleto) described some of them, or he is just describing an ideal library according to the humanist panegyricus genre. Beyond the specific, he also articulated the contemporary humanist concept of an ideal library. For this ideal the collection of Matthias Hunyadi among the 15th century monarchs was most suitable. The furniture was made by Florentine craftsmen, and the description of a mostly 15th century royal studiolo can be found in the text. Along with the books, there were also natural peculiarities (stuffed rare animals, minerals, etc.) in these studiolos. ‘The library was the most beautiful part of the Buda palace, demonstrating the superiority of knowledge, according to Naldi.** This one-time reality is difficult to find in the later less humanist reports. It is likely that not one but two rooms were the representative treasury of the books (at least Nicolaus Olahus wrote about two), the walls (ceilings) were decorated with frescos, the images were labelled by inscriptions.‘ The library was connected with those halls which were the most important representation chambers: the throne room and the chapel. Today we do not have essential data on how the representative function of the library worked, but the fact that in later periods, including Ottoman times, it belonged to the important features of the palace, unequivocally indicates its importance. ‘The library clearly met the requirements of an ideal contemporary humanist library. It is becoming evident that developing the collection was the duty of those constructing this humanist ideal and, in addition, it was in their interest as well. Dalmatian, Italian, German, Czech, and Polish humanists comprised the members of this scholarly network which informed those living in Matthias’s orbit about, on the one hand, the traceability of exact works, and on the other hand, the best scriptors or ready-made manuscripts on sale. To put it bluntly, the Bibliotheca Corvina was the private library of a circle of scholars who took advantage of and served the representational needs of the head of a great power and especially the conscious intention to create a cultural institution. How much were these books used by Matthias? He must have admired the Greek codices, but could not read them. He could read the Latin codices, although it is not obvious that it was his first time meeting these texts in the decorated codices. Lajos Dézsi cites Philippus Bergomensis’s narrative from 1463, according to which there were historians under the pillow of the Hungarian king which he liked reading, mentioning two names: Curtius Rufus and Titus Livius." 44 Nazprus (ed. ÂBeL) 1890. #5 De Jaudibus Augustae Bibliothecae, Torun, KsigZnica Miejska im. Kopernika, Cod. Lat. R. Fol. 21. 107. Csapont 1973, No. 435. 46 Karsay 2002, 37-53; See Natptus (ed. Asst) 1890, 267. 47 Batocu J. 1966, I, 62—65.; Vécu 2010. # De£zsıL. 1902. 19
