”Who are the British? Voyages between the Past and Present”
Each year, the Department of Historical Collections of the University Library arranges a temporary exhibition sampling the rich material of the Klimo Library, an encyclopedic collection of early printed matters and books, founded by Bishop György Klimo in 1774.
Between 29 April 2015 and 31 March 2016, the research librarians invited us to survey printed material related to geography, general history, political, military and natural history, literature, popular culture and even the cuisine of the British Isles. Apart from maps, books and newspapers, there are blazons, coats of arms, coins, and even a teapot with matching cups displayed in the showcases. The arrangement of the material is thematic, with old, historical material exhibited alongside more recent acquisitions, for example, a Latin translation of Winnie the Pooh published in the 1960s.
The exhibition tells as much about us, Hungarians as about ”the British.” The exploits of the people inhabiting the British Isles fascinated continental Europe. The English were the first modern nation who overturned established rules of political life. At the twilight of the Middle Ages they made their king sign the Magna Charta. Henry VIII's Reformation marked the transition between the ideal of universal Christianity and that of national savereignity.
Their navy vanquished the Spanish Armada, established colonies in the New World, then, during a bourgeois revolution, a king was beheaded.
The British launched the scientific revolution, claiming that experimental science served the advancement of the nation. The accomplishments of the British offered the 18th and 19th century Hungarian intelligentsia viable models for modernizing the social, political and cultural life of a nation in semi-colonial dependence within the Habsburg monarchy.
The Klimo Library is located at Nr. 1 Szepesy St., Pécs. Guided tours start each full hour every day.
by Gabriella Vöő
UnivPécs