CHAPTER XI

Bibliography

On the historical background see István Deák: The Lawful Revolution: Louis Kossuth and the Hungarians, 1848-1849 (Columbia U.P. 1979). The literature on Petőfi is very extensive. Of his early biographies the most important is still Z. Ferenczy’s Petőfi életrajza, 3 vols. (1896). There is a useful collection of documents covering Petőfi’s literary activity and contemporary criticism in S. Endrődi: Petőfi napjai a magyar irodalomban, 1842-9 (1911, reprint: 1972). Another collection of documents was published and annotated by L. Hatvany: Igy élt Petőfi, 5 vols. (1955-7; new edition with corrections and index: 1967).

On his poetry, P. Gyulai: ‘Petőfi Sándor és lírai költészetünk’ (Új Magyar Muzeum, 1854; reprinted in several of Gyulai’s selected works, the latest in 1956). This is the first major essay treating Petőfi according to his merits. Of the monographs written about Petőfi, J. Horváth’s book (1922) is excellent. The same is true of F. Riedl’s university lectures published by A. Sikabonyi (1923). G. Illyés’s Petőfi (1936; enlarged ed: 1963) is a sensitive portrait of the man and the poet with a good sketch of the social background by one of the significant poets of this century. Commentaries on his poems, P. Pándi ed., Petőfi állomásai (1976).

There is a considerable literature on Petőfi in German, French, Italian, Russian, and of course in English. G. Illyés’s Petőfi was translated into English by G. F. Cushing (Bp. 1974). A collection of documents, including selections from his letters and travel diary with facsimiles was published by B. Köpeczi ed., Petőfi: Rebel or Revolutionary? (Bp. 1974). D. Mervyn Jones’s essay in his Five Hungarian Writers (Oxford, 1966) is a concise summary of Petőfi’s life and poetry with adequate prose translations. The latest work is by E. Molnár Basa (Boston, 1980).

Of the general essays, ef. E. Belchambers: ‘A Neglected Poet: The Hungarian Bums’ (Modern Languages, 1951); J. Bowring: ‘Alexander Petőfi’ (Gentleman’s Magazine, 1866)-this first major piece on Petőfi in English is marred by both factual errors and misinterpretation; G. F. Cushing: ‘The Irreverence of Petőfi’ (Slavonic and East European Review, 1974); L. Gáldi: ‘Petöfi and Eminescu’ (American Slavic Review, 1948); A. Hegedűs: ‘The Hungarian Byron: Alexander Petőfi’ (The Critic, 1900); S. Hegedűs: ‘Alexander Petőfi’ (Transactions of the Royal Society of Literature of the United Kingdom, 1938); A. Hevesi: ‘Two Great Hungarian Poets’ (Slavonic and East European Review, 1930); J. D. Montgomery: ‘Hungary’s Patriot-Poet’ (Temple Bar, 1896); J. Reményi: Petőfi (Washington, 1953). A short biography, A. B. Yolland: Alexander Petőfi, Poet of the War of Independence, (Bp. 1906), and many other, shorter articles.

For the analysis, background, and interpretation of János vitéz: L. Czigány’s ‘János vitéz, the People’s Epic’ (Mosaic. 1973); and also an excellent French translation with extensive notes on all aspects of the poem, G. Turbet-Delof: Le Jean le Preux (1954). Other, specific aspects of Petőfi’s poetry-for his reception in England cf. F. Norman: ‘Petőfi and his English translators’ (Hungarian Quarterly, 1937); on his translations from Shakespeare cf. Thomas R. Mark: ‘The First Hungarian Translation of Shakespeare’s Complete Works’ (Shakespeare Quarterly, 1965). On the népies trend cf. G. Bisztray ‘With the People Through a Thousand Dangers: East Central European Populism’ (Mosaic, 1973).

About Kerényi cf. G. Gömöri: ‘Kerényi Frigyes-az elfelejtett költő’ (Eszmélet, 1959).

On Tompa, J. Váczy: Tompa Mihály életrajza (1931); also J. Horváth’s study in his Tanulmányok (1956).

On Lévay, F. Zsigmond: Lévay József élete és költészete (1906).

On Sárosi, Gy. Bisztray’s introduction to his Kisebb költeményei, prózai munkái és levelezése (1954).

On Kriza, A. Antal, J. Faragó and A. T. Szabó: Kriza János (Bucharest, 1965). On székely balladry, Ninon Leader: Hungarian Classical Ballads (Cambridge, 1967). There are many minor studies on Erdélyi, but no comprehensive study yet.

Texts

Of the older editions Petőfi Sándor összes költeményei (ed. A. Havas, 6 vols., 1892-6) is the best. There is a modern critical edition: Petőfi Sándor összes művei, ed. by B. Varjas (and others), 7 vols. (1951-64), and a new critical edition is being prepared by J. Kiss and A. Martinkó. (Vol. 1 was published in 1973.) Petőfi was first translated into English in 1847 by J. Bowring. There are numerous translations in periodicals and the following separate volumes: J. Bowring: A. Petőfi the Magyar Poet (1866), a comprehensive selection, but poetry seemed to evaporate in translation. H. Curwen: Sorrow and Song (1875); W. N. Loew: Gems from Petőfi (N.Y., 1881); H. Phillips: Selection from the Poems of A. Petőfi (Philadelphia, 1887); W. F. Fuller: Evadne (1894); H. D’A. Blumberg: Prose and Poetry (1934); E. B. Pierce and E. Delmár: Sixty Poems by A. Petőfi (Bp., 1948); Count Potocki of Montalk: No English Horse (Draguignan, 1967); Sándor Petőfi: His Entire Poetic Works (tr. by Frank Szomy, Boca Raton, Fla., 1972)-this is a dilletante work; and B. Köpeczi: Petőfi: Rebel or Revolutionary? (Bp., 1974), with excellent translations by Edwin Morgan. All general anthologies contain a fair selection from the poetry of Petőfi. János vitéz has three different translations: F. Pulszky’s in blank verse in his Tales and Traditions of Hungary (1851), with a good introduction; J. Bowring’s in his A. Petőfi the Magyar Poet (1866), a grossly misunderstood version; and W. N. Loew’s attempt (N.Y., 1912, reprinted in a bibliophile edition: Bp., 1920). The Apostle was translated by Victor Clement (1961).

There is no modern selection from Kerényi.

There are several editions of Tompa’s complete works, a recent selection was published by Gy. Bisztray (1961). There are poems by Tompa in English in I. Szabad’s Hungary (1854), and in N. Vállyi’s Magyar Poems (1911).

Lévay’s collected works were published several times; there is, however, no modern selection from his works. In English cf. N. Vállyi’s Magyar Poems (1911) and in the various anthologies by W. N. Loew.

Gy. Bisztray published the most recent selection from Sárosi (1954), and The Golden Trumpet was also published by him (1952). ‘Ingeborg on Her Birthday’ was translated by W. Kirkconnell (Slavonic and East European Review, 1938).

Kriza’s folk-song collection is available in several editions. A representative selection of his folk-tales is available in English, L. Kropf and W. H. Jones: The Folk-tales of the Magyars (1889).

The latest selected works of Erdélyi were published by S. Lukácsy (1961).