Hungarica ex librises of Rudomino Library Moscow in local and international contexts

One of the central themes of new, recently forming cultural historical and art historical discourses is the image and its role, effect and reception in visual culture. In the wake of the “iconic turn”, a radical turn could be observed in the field of research too. This turn lays the emphasis on the role of visual techniques and that of visuality. So the interpretation of ex librises as visual documents is especially state of the art and the theme must acquire new dimensions and angles, says Dr. Kornélia Vas-Tóth, research fellow of Hungary’s National Széchényi Library. Dr. Vas-Tóth is an author of several books on cultural history and she has written several studies and articles, all of which contributed to the scholarly presentation of 20th- and 21st-century ex librises. She also wrote her doctoral thesis on the subject.

The interpretation of ex librises as visual documents goes well beyond the study of the ways of expression in fine arts. Interdisciplinary analysis provides rich findings for a number of fields in cultural and academic life. Cultural historical context plays a big role in visual literacy, i.e. in the “reading” and interpretation of images, taking into account new approaches, such as the personality of ex libris collectors or the motivation of having ex librises made, as well as why people collect ex librises. Corpus of the research, serving as a basis of this book, was a bulk of 4,585 small graphics stored by the Department of Rare Books at Rudomino All-Russia State Library for Foreign Literature, Moscow. Hungary-related, hungarica ex libris research targeted regional, linguistic, personal and content-type hungaricas. The volume wishes to serve as an example for defining criteria according to which Hungary-related ex librises to be found in international collections can be processed. It also aims at serving as a model for any further research on the subject, justifying, at the same time, how well-known Hungarian ex librises in the international arena are. The book comes complete with abstracts in Russian and English.

Published by National Széchényi Library and Gondolat Publishing House
Written by Dr. Kornélia Vas-Tóth
(Bibliotheca Nationalis Hungariae)
Price of the publication is HUF 3,000.

The publication is available in NSZL’s bookshop or it can be ordered from the Office of New Publications of the Library. Contact: Tímea Budai-Király, Office of New Publications of the Directorate of Research and Academic Affairs, National Széchényi Library; Buda Castle “F” Building, H-1827 Budapest, Hungary; Tel.: + 361 224 3878, Fax: + 361 224 3744, e-mail: kiadvanytar@oszk.hu.

The volume will be inscribed by the author on Saturday June 6, 2015, between 2 and 3 p.m. at Festive Book Week.
The volume will be presented on June 24, 2015 in National Széchényi Library.