Use of the Collection of Posters and Small Prints

Printer-friendly versionPDF version

Opening hours of the Special Collection Reading Room:

  • Tuesday–Thursday: 10 am–6 pm
  • Friday–Saturday: 9 am–7 pm

 

From 18 October 2022, the Manuscript, Early Printed Book, Map, Poster and Small Print, and the Theatre History and Music Collections will be open to the public in a shared reading room.

Research in the reading room of the special collections is only available to our readers by prior reservation. 
If possible, please make your reservation at least 24 hours in advance by emailing helyfoglalas.kulongyujtemenyek@oszk.hu.
If you are unable to come despite your reservation, please let us know so that we can make the seat available to someone else.

We expect your document requests by 16.30 on the day before your scheduled visit during the week and by 13.00 on Friday for Saturday.

Reference service is available until 16.30 on weekdays and until 14.00 on Fridays.

Our staff will also be happy to help you by phone or email. Questions can be addressed by e-mail to plakat[at]oszk.hu, or by phone at (+36-1) 487-8623.

 

 

How to use the reading room:

  • If you would like to reserve a place in the shared reading room (15 reading places) of the Manuscript, Early Printed Book, Map, Poster and Small Print, and the Theatre History and Music Collection  (floor 6, formerly the Theatre History and Music Collection reading room), please send an e-mail to helyfoglalas.kulongyujtemenyek@oszk.hu.
  • We respond to all reservation requests, but out-of-hours emails can only be processed on the next opening day, so we kindly ask for your patience.
  • Please include your telephone contact details in your e-mail request, if possible, so that our staff can contact you more easily if necessary.
  • Documents from the special collections can still only be consulted with a reader pass valid for at least six months, while a day pass is only valid for accessing the catalogues and the open shelves.
  • The number of documents requested at the same time is limited; please check with your reader service colleague in each case.

 

How to make copies:

No cameras are allowed in the reading room. The library's digitisation centre can make copies of the material on request, provided that the condition of the document allows it. Photocopies may not be made of any old document.

The completion of an electronic request form for a copy does not imply automatic authorisation to make a copy; the decision to do so is at the discretion of the Head of Department.

If the photograph is to be used for publishing purposes, this must be disclosed and by the customer and must be subject to specific authorisation. The customer must pay the library a fee for the use of the photograph, which is determined by the Head of Department.

 

Reference
In case of publication, it is advised, if possible, to refer to the place where the used document is kept and also to its special reference number (e.g. National Széchényi Library, Collection of Posters and Small Prints, PKG. 1926/12).

There is no need to refer to the origin or the special reference number of the document only in case if the Head of Department gives a written permit before publication.

 

Search in the collection

 

Electronic catalogues

Description of the stock of the Collection of Posters and Small Prints comprising approximately 4 million individual library items is in progress. Data related to our documents can be searched for in NSZL’s online catalogue for readers.

Documents in NSZL’s online catalogue are the following:

  • Hungarian graphic posters issued between 1885 and 1949 (in case of complex search, it is advised to write the expression ‘graphic posters’ as a key word into a separate search field, in addition to the actual search expression);
  • Ex librises issued after 1900 (description in progress), legacy of Lenke Diskay;
  • International graphic posters (since the end of the 19th century until 1945);
  • Small prints (quarto) published between 1712 and 1751 and small prints (octavo) published between 1712 and 1760;
  • Small prints and minor prints (1845-1860);
  • Special Collection on 1848 and 1849;
  • Documents of the 1956 Revolution (posters including text and leaflets);
  • Picture postcards issued before 1945 (description in progress);
  • Dime novels (18th to 20th centuries);
  • Wall calendars (after 2007);
  • Exhibition catalogues.

Online databases

  • Graphic Poster Collection (1885-1926) of NSZL’s Collection of Posters and Small Prints: digital images and data in detail in the Hungarian Digital Image Library;
  • A 3,750-piece Piarist collection of postcards included in NSZL’s Collection of Posters and Small Prints, digital images and data related to picture postcards dating back to the turn of the century, arranged according to Hungary’s settlements and counties, in the Hungarian Digital Image Library;
  • The 1956 Revolution Collection of NSZL’s Collection of Posters and Small Prints: digital images of posters including text and leaflets, with data in the database of the Hungarian Electronic Library.

Related contents:
Posters, small prints, reproduced graphics