Opening hours of the Special Collection Reading Room:
- Tuesday-Thursday: 10 am–6 pm
- Friday-Saturday: 9 am–7 pm
From 18 October 2022, the Manuscript, Early Printed Book, Map, Poster and Small Print, and the Theatre History and Music Collections will be open to the public in a shared reading room.
Research in the reading room of the special collections is only available to our readers by prior reservation.
If possible, please make your reservation at least 24 hours in advance by emailing helyfoglalas.kulongyujtemenyek@oszk.hu [1].
If you are unable to come despite your reservation, please let us know so that we can make the seat available to someone else.
We expect your document requests by 16.30 on the day before your scheduled visit during the week and by 13.00 on Friday for Saturday.
Reference service is available until 16.30 on weekdays and until 14.00 on Fridays.
Our staff [2] will also be happy to help you by phone or email. Questions can be addressed by e-mail to regikonyv[at]oszk.hu, or by phone at (+36-1) 224-3700/776 or (+36–1) 232–3564.
How to use the reading room:
- If you would like to reserve a place in the shared reading room (15 reading places) of the Manuscript, Early Printed Book, Map, Poster and Small Print, and the Theatre History and Music Collection (floor 6, formerly the Theatre History and Music Collection reading room), please send an e-mail to helyfoglalas.kulongyujtemenyek@oszk.hu [1].
- We respond to all reservation requests, but out-of-hours emails can only be processed on the next opening day, so we kindly ask for your patience.
- Please include your telephone contact details in your e-mail request, if possible, so that our staff can contact you more easily if necessary.
- Documents from the special collections can still only be consulted with a reader pass valid for at least six months, while a day pass is only valid for accessing the catalogues and the open shelves.
- The number of documents requested at the same time is limited; please check with your reader service colleague in each case.
- Volumes from the reference library, located in the locked reading room of the Manuscript and Early Printed Book can be checked out by our staff on request. Our colleagues will accompany you to examine the card catalogues located next to the locked reading room.
How to make copies:
No cameras are allowed in the reading room. The library's digitisation centre can make copies [3]of the material on request, provided that the condition of the document allows it. Photocopies may not be made of any old document.
The completion of an electronic request form for a copy does not imply automatic authorisation to make a copy; the decision to do so is at the discretion of the Head of Department.
If the photograph is to be used for publishing purposes, this must be disclosed and by the customer and must be subject to specific authorisation. The customer must pay the library a fee for the use of the photograph, which is determined by the Head of Department.
To refer to any material stored in NSZL’s Early Printed Books Archive, you have to use the following form:
Országos Széchényi Könyvtár (National Széchényi Library), Régi nyomtatványok tára (Early Printed Books Archive) + document reference code. In short: OSZK RNYT + document reference code (pl. OSZK RNYT RMK I. 782).
Getting around in the collection
Research in the Reading Room is also helped by a reference library, the catalogue of which can be found on the corridor, in front of the Reading Room.
Incunabula (Inc.)
• Printed catalogue:
Sajó, Géza and Soltész, Zoltánné: Catalogus incunabulorum quae in bibliothecis publicis Hungariae asservantur. (Collab.) Csaba Csapodi, Miklós Vértessy. Vol. 1-2. Bp., Akadémiai, 1970.
• Electronic catalogue:
The original work in MEK (Hungarian Electronic Library) [4], Nektár [5], Digital Library [6]
Antiquas (Ant.)
• Printed catalogue:
Soltész, Erzsébet - Velenczei, Katalin - W. Salgó, Ágnes: Az Országos Széchényi Könyvtár 16. századi nyomtatványainak katalógusa. Nem magyar nyelvű, külföldi nyomtatványok. Catalogus librorum sedecimo saeculo impressorum, qui in Bibliotheca Nationali Hungariae Széchényiana asservantur. Vol. 1-3. Bp., OSZK, 1990.
• Electronic catalogue:
Arcanum database [7], Nektár [5], Digital Library [6]
Régi Magyar Könyvtár, RMK (Old Hungarian Library)
• Printed catalogue:
Szabó, Károly: Régi magyar könyvtár. Vol. I-III. Bp., MTA, 1879-1898.
Akantisz, Viktor: Dr. Todoreszku Gyula és neje Horváth Aranka régi magyar könyvtára. Bp., 1922.
Régi magyarországi nyomtatványok. Res litteraria Hungariae vetus operum impressorum. (Compiled by Gedeon Borsa and others) (Vol. 1) 1473-1600; (Vol. 2) 1601-1635; (Vol. 3) 1636-1655. (Vol. 4) 1656-1670. Bp., Akadémiai, 1971-2011.
• Electronic catalogue:
Arcanum database [8], Nektár [5], Digital Library [6]
Apponyi Hungarica (App. H.)
• Printed catalogue:
Apponyi, Sándor: Hungarica. Ungarn betreffende im Ausland gedruckte Bücher und Flugschriften. Vol. 1-4. München, 1903-1927. Recent edition: Neubearbeitet von József Vekerdi. Vol. 1-3. Bp., OSZK, 2004.
• Electronic catalogue:
Arcanum database [9], Nektár [5], Digital Library [6]
Apponyi Metszet (App. M.) – Apponyi Engraving
• Electronic catalogue:
Hungarian Digital Image Library [10], Nektár [5]
Apponyi Rariora (App. R.)
• Printed catalogue:
Végh, Gyula: Rariora et curiosa gróf Apponyi Sándor gyűjteményéből. Bp., MNM, 1925.
• Electronic catalogue:
The original work in MEK (Hungarian Electronic Library) [11], Pdf version of card catalogue, [12] Nektár [5], Digital Library [6]
Leaflets (Hungarian abbreviation: Röpl.)
• Printed catalogue:
Hubay, Ilona: Magyar és magyar vonatkozású röplapok, újságlapok, röpiratok az Országos Széchényi Könyvtárban 1480-1718. Feuilles volantes, gazettes et pamphlets hongrois ou relatifs a la Hongrie, conservés a la Bibliotheque Nationale de Budapest. Bp., OSZK, 1948.
• Electronic catalogue:
The original work in MEK (Hungarian Digital Library) [13], Nektár [5], Digital Library [6]
Exlibris-Collection (Exl.)
• Electronic catalogue:
Hungarian Digital Image Library [14], Nektár [5]
Collection of Rare Bindings (Hungarian abbreviation: RK)
• Electronic catalogue:
Pdf version of card catalogue [15], Nektár [5], Digital Library [6]
Collection of Old Cyrillica (Hungarian abbreviation: RC)
• Electronic catalogue:
Pdf version of card catalogue [16], Nektár [5], Digital Library [6]
Calendars (Cal.)
• Electronic catalogue:
Pdf version of card catalogue [17], Nektár [5], Digital Library [6]
Related contents:
Early Printed Books [18]