SUMMARY
Under the name Bibliotheca Zriniana one has to understand a historically förmed collection of books; 529 existing volumes (including 29 manuscripts) are in the Biblioteca Nacionalna i Sveučilišna (National and University Library), Zagreb; most of these 529 pieces are parts of the special collection of the same name. We have reliable informations about some 202 missing books (including 5 manuscripts) which were alsó in this library once. On the basis of historical and bibliographical points of wiev and taking the quondam location marks into consideration we can be sure of the existence of some 120 other books, but written evidences are lacking. We do not know about books once belonging to the library and now being kept elsewhere. This is why we can determine the present time known whole stock of the Bibliotheca Zriniana as a library unit of 731 volumes (529 existing and 202 missing books). The introductory study of our book is on the history of this library unit.
The Birth of Miklós Zrinyi's Library
Most of the stock of the Bibliotheca Zriniana was collected by its founder, the poet, military leader and politician Miklós Zrínyi (1620-1664).* The basic stock of his library is described in the 1662 Catalogus. Beside this there are
* It cannot be the task of the introductory study dealing with the Zrinyi Library to present the well-known life and the works of Miklós Zrinyi, one of the greatest figures of 17th century Hungárián history and the greatest Hungárián baroque poet. As to the informations about his person the Zrinyi-Bibliography in our volume (Appendix VII) can indicate, where to find further information.
Beside this, we would like to call the attention upon an english book on Zrinyi, published already in his lifetime: The Conduct and Character of Count Nicholas Serini, London, 1664. It has been recently reprinted by Sándor Iván KOVÁCS : Angol életrajz Zrínyi Miklósról (English Biography on Miklós Zrinyi), Budapest, Zrínyi Katonai Kiadó, 1987. About Zrinyi's literary works in English see:
D. Mervyn JONES, Five Hungárián Writers, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1966, pp. 1-61.
certain traces in several other books of the Bibliotheca Zriniana collection in Zagreb, which prove that they, too, had been in the property of Miklós Zrínyi.
Finally a number of books without any signs which exclude this possibility can alsó be counted to his own library. It can be stated that Zrínyi's own books figure out more than four quarters of the whole stock ot the Bibliotheca Zriniana. Only two of his books came from his father and 15 from István Jóna, steward of the Csáktornya estate. The library itself is the outcome of his collector attitűdé. The main impulse was given to hím by his grand tour in Italy in 1636; most of his known books are from the years preceeding and following this date. His main source of book supply remained mostly Venice and Vienna even after.
On the basis of the possessor marks some of Zrínyi's books got into his possession from other former owners. He acquired about 100 volumes from the estate of the Listi family; some of them before 1662 and the others between 1662 and 1664. The uniform and well separable location marks of the library of the Listis' - n° mark and annexed number - can be seen in these books accompanied by inscriptions of different members of the (Listi) family. Other books visibly were in the possession of Miklós Istvánffy, Sándor Mikulich, Péter Erdődy, György Ráttkay, István Balassa, György Thurzó, György Lippay etc. before.
Everything points to the fact that in his purchases he was not directed by bibliophile intentions; he collected the very books he needed in his everyday work.
- Accomodation of the Library
We do not know the layout of the contemporary buildings in the Zrínyi castle of Csáktornya (Čakovec). The only visitor, who mentions the existence of the library is the Dutchman, Jacobus Tollius. It seems to be possible that the room of the library was fashioned after 1638: there is no sign of it in the 1638 letter of partition of the estate between Miklós and Péter Zrínyi. There is library however in a farther, 1670 inventory with the remark that the books were arranged in four bookcases, but we can presume that the books he used most frequently Zrínyi could keep in his study, or smaller parts of his collection could be stored in his other residences, too. (E. g. he had houses in Vienna and Zagreb.)
The Arrangement of the Library and the 1662 Catalogus
The arrangement of Zrínyi's library can be retraced on the basis of the location marks in the existing books. Six types of location marks can be separated on the volumes of the Bibliotheca Zriniana but we can connect only one type with
Miklós Zrínyi. These location marks are big, angular, 4-8 cms long figures on the saddles of the books. There are no books, published after his death, with this rype of location marks. In case of sheepskin or paper bindings the figures were íimply painted on the saddles and were written on slips of papers glued on in cases of leather-bound volumes.
The saddle figures of the Zrínyi library, visible on more than 200 volumes, show a library arranged acording to the sizes. In 1662 the highest saddle figure among the books was 501 (n° 90); consequently the library had at least 500 volumes that time. Some of the books purchased after the aformentioned year faave saddle figures of the same type. The highest is 617 (n° 453) among them.
At the time of Zrínyi's death the arranged stock of the library was over 600 items.
The arrangement on the basis of sizes made the use of the library irksome.
This is why the poet had a Catalogus made in 1662 in the classified order. It is possible however that this inventory can be connected with his last will on the óth of April 1662. There is no special disposition in the will in connection with rhe library but it ordains the classification of his archives.
The registration was possibly made one of Zrínyi's scribes, who worked with rhe title pages (or with the engraved inner endpapers if there were any) as sources for the description. He transcribed mechanically without writing out the ab-breviations in full; in the cases of long titles he usually copied only the typo-graphically accentuated parts. In the lack of the author's name on the title page he mentioned the printer as auctor several times (e. g. n° 198, 325); in other cases he tried to find out the author's name turning over the pages of the book. He never transcribed the title pages printed with Gothic characters; he only sum-marized the contents in Latin.
After having described the title page he made remarks referring the matériái and colour of the binding and gave the measures of the book. He conscripted only 4 2 3 of the nearly 500 volumes of the library; we can presume that the missing nieces were not on their places.
The conscription is a work of a clerk but it seems to be sure that the classification came from the owner himself. Comparing Zrínyi's collection with other contemporary libraries the differentiation of the class of history is very conspicious. The Hungárián and Eastern history are connected, the political and military literature are separated from the class of history; the classical and contemporary poetry are alsó separated from each other.
So far as the exteriőr of the books is concerned, visibly Zrínyi paid a very little attention to it; most of his books remained in their modest, white sheepskin binding of the publishers. Some of his highly valued books are rebound in red leather. However he strived to record his ownership with engraved bookplates showing his portrait. Two types are known: the first was made in 1646, at the
time of his marriage with his mottó „Nemo me impune lacesset" by Elias Widemann. This type is the most frequent on the íirst plates or on the inner endpapers of his books. After his promotion to the viceroy of Croatia (27th December 1647) a new variation bookplate was made without date of the year but with mentioning his new dignity on the legend in 1648 or in 1649. The second type was alsó made by Widemann in 1652, at the time of the new marriage. The new mottó is „Sors bona nihil aliud".
The Library and Its Users
So far as the use of his archives is concerned there are strict prescriptions in Zrínyi's last will. It can be presumed that there had to be some directions in connection with the use of the tibrary, too, but they did not survive. There are only a few inscriptions in the existing books from the second half of the 1660-s which are not from Zrínyi's hand. Only the family histórián Mark Forstall is known to spend longer time in the library in connection with his work.
The relatively well indentifiable autographic notes of Zrínyi can be put into different types. Into some of his highly valued books, bound in crimson leather, he wrote his mottó Sors bona nihil aliud with his own hand (n° 164,186,213,485).
He inclined to write short sentences or verse-rhyming improvisations on the inner plates, inner endpapers or bindings of his books (n° 63, 182, 292, 498). It is a very exceptional case that fragments of a prosaic draft have survived on the margines in n° 169. On the inner plate of Vincenzo Tanara's book on gardening Zrínyi wrote remarks in connection with practical tasks in improvement of fruits (n° 382).
The marginalia in Malvezzi's commentary to Tacitus show Zrínyi's working methods as an essayist (n° 163). On some leaves bound in front of the work itself he nearly epitomized certain chapters of Malvezzi and summarized his im-pressions he wrote formerly on the margines. His citations from Istvánffy, Bonfini and Heltai show that he worked from more books at the same time.
He used his pen again and again if something called his attention or kindled his interest. He was very susceptible to dates and facts in connection with the history of his family. Generally he made his remarks in the language of his reading but sometimes he changed the Latin or Italian with the Hungárián. If he had not patience with making notes he used to accentuate the interesting parts with special indicatory signs, as NB in block capitals, sketch of a pointing hand, long line on the margine, or a big X. Instead of ink and pen he often used pencil in these cases.
The total lack of a "Theologici" class shows that works dealing with this discipline were out of Zrínyi's conception of book-collecting. It is possible that having got hold of polemical or religious works, he gave them some ecclesiastical institutions, e.g. the Paulite monastery of Szentilona (this monastery guarded the family vauit) or the Csáktornya Franciscans. It must be sure that he presented his guests or friends with books sometimes: Tollius, leaving Csáktornya, got three Turkish manuscripts as presents.
The Library of Miklós Zrínyi and the Contemporary Libraries We have informations about other Hungárián baronial libraries of the 17th century: the book-collections of Sándor Mikulich, Ádám Batthyány, Ferenc Xádasdy, István Csáky are well known. So far as their stocks are concerned, the Zrínyi's library was outnumbered by almost each of them, but, with the excep-üon of the Nádasdy collection, those were collections of several generations or were inferior to Zrínyi's in their newness. Zrínyi's library was up-to-date and with its considerable richness in works on the art of war, political sciences and contemporary Italian poetry, surpassed the others.
About half of Zrínyi's books were in Latin, one third of them were in Italian, including a number of works which originally were written in Latin or in French but he had them in Italian translation. The rest were in French, Hungárián, German, Spanish or multilingual: Latin-Italián, Latin-Greek, Latin-French, including the dictionaries.
In comparison with the 17th century European collections Zrínyi's library is equal to the challenge. There were several baronial libraries in Europe contain-ing books between 200 and 3000 but the typical collections had usually 200 to 800; however in newness and characteristic aspect the Bibliotheca Zriniana can be compared only with the best ones.
The Books of Péter Zrínyi
After Miklós Zrínyi's unexpected and early death his public and military functions were inherited by his younger brother Péter Zrínyi, who soon took up his residence in the Csáktornya castle, which was the seat of the existing head of the family.
The contract between the widow and the new viceroy of Croatia in the division of the landed properties was done on the 15th of December 1665. The widow, Mária Zsófia Löbl, and the children, the two years old Ádám and the five
years old Katalin, remained in Csáktornya to govern the domains which förmed the heritage of the children. However at the beginning of 1670 the matters of Péter Zrínyi's anti-Habsburg organizing took a turn for the worst and with regard to the dangerous situation he called upon his sister-in^law to leave Csáktornya. The widow then moved to Várasd. The abandoned personal proper-ties of her were conscripted by the delegates of the Zagreb Chapter on the 16th of March 1670 and there is a reference to the library in the conscription stating that the books were arranged in four bookcases. Péter Zrínyi became outlawed on the 30th of March and soon the Court started to confiscate his properties.
There were two confiscation processes on Péter Zrínyi's piece of property, the first on the 20th of May the second on the 21th of July with several references to his books. A new and more detailed conscription was made a year later on the 30th of October 1671 in which the last item was: "Libri. Secundum cathalogum adiunctum ut littera A:" The attached fascicle is the list of his confiscated books.
(See in Appendix VI.)
The list contains 95 volumes to the value of 69 Forints and 8 kreuzers.
Concerning the bibliographical points of view the listing was extraordinarily unprofessional. The inventor translated the Italian, German and Croatian titles to Latin and in many cases referred only to the contents of the books in general, or simply described the superscription from the saddles. The ortography of the authors' names is often deformed; this may be the consequence of dictation. The books in the list are usually in Latin and Italian. Most of them treat the questions of medicine and the proportion of antic auctors is alsó considerable. Comparing his library with that of his elder brothers' the library of Péter Zrínyi was poorer in works on the art of war, politics and history. His inclination to poetry is indicated by three books on rhetorics, one volume of Tasso and one of Marino.
Among the confiscated books there are seven copies of his wife, Katalin Fran-gepán's prayer-book Putni tovarus, published in Croatian language in Venice.
The copies of Péter Zrínyi's work Adrijanskog mora Syrena (a translation of his elder brother's Hungárián heroic poem Szigeti veszedelem) were suppressed during the confiscation process in Buccari (Bakar) on the 22nd of June 1670: ".. .item librorum croaticorum Venetiis impressorum de expugnatione Szigethana cistae magnae 3." Finally a list form 1672 (without month and day) contains properties, illegally removed from the Zrínyi estates by different persons, and mentions about 200 books, removed under duress from Ozaly. No trace was ever found of Péter Zrínyi's confiscated or scattered books. We know only one volume with his own possessor-inscription; it is an Odyssey in Latin (n° 268). It could escape its fate because mixed among the books of Miklós before 1662.
Adám Zrínyi
Ádám Zrínyi was the son of Miklós Zrínyi and his second wife Mária Zsófia Löbl. He was born in Vienna on the 24th of November 1662. He studied in the Vienna Jesuite College from 1673 and finished the secondary section in spring 1676. According to the register of the Vienna University he immatriculated at
± e Faculty of Philosophy of the university, and on the basis of his dissertation m° 664-668) later he probably read law, too.
The memory of Ádám Zrínyi's university years are treasured by his books he bought in the 1670s - and by his inscriptions in them. Most of his books in the stock of the Bibliotheca Zriniana are secondary school and university text-books or lecture notes (n° 625-627 Ms, 651, 657). He had some occasional rublications too (n° 635, 636). In one of these - Florilegium, greeting the imperial couple - a poem of Ádám Zrínyi can be read on page B3 under the title Prudentia.
Ádám Zrínyi started his peregrination at the beginning of 1680. He foliowed the steps of his cousin János Zrínyi and went to the university of Leuven. His peregrination notes are now in the possession of the Zagreb library (n° 631 Ms) so we can state that he spent some time in Bruxelles and later he immatriculated at the Faculty of Law of the Leuven University. Two manuscripts (n° 629 Ms, 630 Ms, in French) prove that he attended lectures on the art of fortification, too.
When he returned home he started to arrange his properties and became connected with the struggle against the Turks and took a hand in its literary propaganda, too. He incited Pavao Ritter Vitezovič to publish an epic poem, which, under the title Oddilyenje Sigetsko, recalled the siege of Szigetvár accor
ding to the Szigeti veszedelem. Probably in 1684 he married Katherina Maria Lamberg, offspring of an ancient Austrian family.
Commanding his own troops Ádám Zrínyi appeared on the battlefields personally from 1682. According to his military successes he soon became Chamberlain and councillor and (among others) he was proposed to be the general of the future Hungárián army by palatine Pál Esterházy in 1687. However his glorious career came to its end in the battle at Szalánkemén on the 19th of August 1691. Colonel Ádám Zrínyi, who fought under Louis of Baden, died in action ín the "most bloody battle of the century".
Accessions of the Library at the Time of Adóm Zrínyi
Most of the books of the Zrínyi library have a numbering with brown ink.
mostly on the recto or verso of the inner endpapers. This is the conscription of the time of Ádám Zrínyi, because it covers the books, which originate after the death of Miklós, but does not contain those which arrived to the Bibliotheca Zriniana after Ádám's death (n° 721, 725-727). On the basis of this numbering the books cannot be arranged in any order, so it is obvious, this was only a
mostly on the recto or verso of the inner endpapers. This is the conscription of the time of Ádám Zrínyi, because it covers the books, which originate after the death of Miklós, but does not contain those which arrived to the Bibliotheca Zriniana after Ádám's death (n° 721, 725-727). On the basis of this numbering the books cannot be arranged in any order, so it is obvious, this was only a