Questing lost manuscripts [Hungary's king, Matthias Corvinus]

The Economist ^ | July 17th, 2008 | unattributed

[SunkenCiv]

When Hungary fell to the Turks and the library was lost, its size in the minds of men grew exponentially. Figures of up to 50,000 books were bandied about. In fact there were probably never more than 2,500. Today some 216 of them are known to have survived. How they did, and how they became Hungary's quest for the holy grail, is a gripping tale, helped along by Mr Tanner's penchant for intriguing asides... Translations of Greek and Latin works were often of poor quality, even if they had been prepared for princes. Although Hungarians eventually built a cult of Matthias and his library, at the time his countrymen looked down on it, regarding it as a luxury and a magnet for the irritating foreigners, especially Italians, whom it attracted to the court.

[SunkenCiv]

Matthias Corvinus site:freerepublic.com

Google

[SunkenCiv]

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[wildbill]

Man, if there’s anything more irritating than an Eyetalian bibliophile in the stacks or squatting at YOUR carrel, I don’t know what it could be.

[SunkenCiv]

:’D

[FocusNexus]

THE HISTORY OF THE BIBLIOTHECA CORVINIANA

http://www.tertullian.org/articles/csapodi_corviniana.htm

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks!