The registration of owners

The owners (possessors) usually marked their books with their names, and in addition, often indicated when and from whom they received, or to whom they passed on the volume. Library scientists are pursuing systematic research on ownership registrations in collections from the Renaissance era, since these are important documents on the reading culture of the times. Not only names, but many other things were also registered in books by their owners. For instance, János Rimay wrote down one of his poems in his book, while others used them as keepsakes and asked their friends to inscribe wise sayings, witty sentences or love poems in the margins or empty pages of the various volumes. Notes written in books are important sources for historical sciences and for the history of culture: the empty pages of Bibles provided space for family chronicles such as births, marriages, sicknesses, deaths and other relevant events.

ÁP-SzJú