The Treasures of a Lost Collection

The Library of Ondrej Czemanka

Abstract

The above study presents the life and the library of a Slovakian nobleman from the region Turiec, Adam Czemanka (1675–1759). The well-educated smallholder could not pursue studies abroad, and, contrary to the allegations of special literature he did not serve as a Lutheran minister either, but he was able to acquire considerable knowledge through self-education, and he could build up one of the most important private-libraries of the early 18th century in Hungary. Leaning on his collection, he effectively supported the major science ventures of Mátyás Bél, including the description of Hungary and an edition of narrative sources from the medieval and early modern era.  As it was marked by his educated fellow countryman, this magnificent library was destroyed by fire sometime in the 1730s, but its catalog survived for a while, and a neighbor and younger friend of Czemanka, Gabriel Valovicz made of it in 1756 an extract of 296 items closely related to Hungary, among them 26 manuscripts, 197 prints issued in Hungary and 73 published abroad. This has been preserved as part of the collection made by Skalica minister, Martin Lauček at the turn of the 18th and the 19th centuries, now kept in the Slovakian National Archive in Bratislava. Since this list of books is very precise, containing the place and exact year of publishing, we have been able to identify each print (picking out and presenting the ones hitherto unknown). At the end of the analysis, we have been given an impression of the library, which can be characterized as a typical Lutheran collection, with a preponderance of theological dissertations and occasional prints.