---

Contents

Introduction
Once upon a time in Britain
Symbols of Englishness
Historical Works about Great Britain
English Queens
Statemen & Monarchs
Military History
The Church of England
Countries of the United Kingdom
Dominions of the British Empire
Natural Science
Medicine
Philosophy
Journalism
Humour
Music
Traveling & Discovery
Female Authors
Poetry
Works of Fiction
The English Crime Fiction
Theatre
The English Garden
Gastronomy
Five-o'clock Tea

---

Introduction

The Klimo Library, founded by Bishop György Klimo in 1774, is part of the History Collection Department at the University Library of Pécs and Centre of Learning. The temporary exhibition located here presents material related to Great Britain. It offers a glimpse into the general, ecclesiastical, political and military history, the geography, the literature, popular culture, and even cuisine of the British Isles. The maps, books, and newspapers on display come from the collections of the University Library of Pécs and from private collections. They tell an intricate story not only about "those British" but about "these Hungarians" as well. The items in the collection contribute to the larger image of Great Britain that intellectuals in Hungary created in the course of three centuries. Although the exhibition includes more recent, twentieth-century items, the bulk of the printed matter exhibited in the showcases was acquired during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It was during this period that Britain became a relevant model for Hungarians in their aspirations for national, political, economic and cultural modernization.

"Anglomania," the heightened interest in English culture that swept across Europe beginning with the eighteenth century, was an important cultural phenomenon in Hungary as well. Writers developed an interest in the English novel: Fanni hagyományai [The Legacy of Fanni, 1794] by József Kármán was inspired by Samuel Richardson's Pamela. The writer and language reformer Ferenc Kazinczy was impressed by English and Anglo-Irish authors, Lawrence Sterne among them, whose works he read in French and German translation. During the nineteenth century, the most prominent Hungarian poets of the century, Mihály Vörösmarty, Sándor Petőfi and János Arany, translated the plays of Shakepeare. Between the 1820s and 1840s, in the period referred to as the Age of Reform, Count István Széchenyi travelled to England in search of solutions for the economic, scientific and social challenges facing Hungary. On the other hand, in his essay "Szegénység Irlandban" [Poverty in Ireland, 1840] the writer József Eötvös pointed out that social, economic and political problems were endemic to Great Britain as well. In the first decades of the twentieth century, poets and prose writers grouped around the literary journal Nyugat [The West, 1908-1941], which published inspired translations from English and Irish literature.

One must note, however, that Hungarian intellectuals failed at times to perceive the complexities of British society, politics and culture: they tended to overlook the national diversity of Great Britain, and only took notice of the English. For example, the Irish regarded the Compromise of 1867, which remedied the semi-colonial situation of Hungary by creating the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, as a viable model for Home Rule. However, Hungarians of the late nineteenth and twentieth century did not return their gaze: the Irish political predicament was hardly noticed. Moreover, such prominent figures of Irish literature and culture like William Butler Yeats and James Joyce were regarded, at this time, as English writers.

While contemplating the exhibition's 18 showcases, we may wonder why Great Britain meant so much to Bishop Klimo and his successors in the Diocese of Pécs who assembled this collection. They were aware that the inhabitants of the British Isles played a special role in the history of the continent. The Irish monks were instrumental in re-Christianizing early medieval Europe. The people of Wales and Scotland fought heroically for their freedom from English domination. And the English themselves were the first modern nation that overturned established rules of political life. At the twilight of the Middle Ages, the English aristocracy made King John sign the Magna Carta, the document that considerably restricted the power of the monarch. Henry VIII's English Reformation marked the transition between the ideal of universal Christianity and that of national sovereignty. The concept of the nation as a community of free and equal citizens became accepted during the reign of the Tudors. Not long after their time, these very citizens started a revolution and beheaded their king. During the century that followed, the English and Scottish enlightenment brought relevant changes in civic and political life: polite conduct became the new standard. The notion of the "gentleman" also changed: instead of high birth, the cultivation of the mind, personal character and noble deeds became its salient characteristics. The free citizen, informed in the matters of culture and public life, was regarded as the pillar of the nation.

Historians set the origin of the British Empire in the thirteenth century when Edward Longshanks conquered the Celtic fringes, Wales and Scotland. The subjugation of Ireland was completed in the sixteenth century. Simultaneously, the fleet of Elizabeth I, aided by buccaneers like Francis Drake, defeated the Spanish Armada, and England began establishing colonies the New World. The First British Empire suffered a serious blow with the outbreak of the American Revolution. However, the loss of her thirteen colonies did not keep them from establishing, in the late eighteenth century, the Second British Empire which included the Indian subcontinent, Australia, as well as large territories in Africa and North America. Although Bonaparte called them, in a deprecatory manner, "a nation of shopkeepers," the British emerged from the Napoleonic wars stronger than ever before. Their nation, according to a recent definition by historians, was protestant, commercial, maritime, and free.

At the end of the sixteenth century, due to the accomplishments of the prominent statesman and scientist Francis Bacon, it became widely accepted that experiential science wielded greater authority than the auctores of classical antiquity. The scientific revolution added considerably to the sense of British greatness. Accomplishments in science became a matter of national pride and prestige. The Royal Society of London was founded, in 1660, on the principle that science represented an instrument of national advancement.

The fascination of Hungarians with British history, culture and popular culture has a long history. "Who are those British?"-is a question we ask, even today. The exhibition in the Klimo Library brings together old and new answers to this question. The objects in the showcases are arranged thematically, with the earlier material displayed on the right side, and the later acquisitions on the left. Thus, a volume by the late Renaissance woman writer Aphra Behn lies side by side with a book by J. K. Rowling; an early edition of Robinson Crusoe is in the good company of a Latin translation of Winnie the Pooh, published in 1960. And although the historical Klimo Collection is no longer updated, this temporary exhibition adds new and relevant details to our knowledge about the history and culture of Britain.

Gabriella Vöő

---