A Patriot Scholar in Vienna

Demeter Görög (1760–1833) was one of the most important literary organizers of the Age of Enlightenment in Hungary, a scholar still highly respected in several academic areas. He was an educator, a journalist and editor, a publisher of books and maps, a wine producer, a generous protector of young talents and culture in Hungary, and one of the most prominent members of the Hungarian scholar society in Vienna. His large library was purchased by the father of one of his one-time disciples, Pál Antal Esterházy, Duke Miklós II. Esterházy.

The famous library contains part of the manuscripts handed in to the paper Hadi és Más Nevezetes Történetek (“Militar and Other Notable Stories”), later published as Magyar Hírmondó (“Hungarian Chronicle”) edited by Görög. Among them there are several writings particularly relevant for the history of Hungarian literature and culture.

In the first part of the volume we can read about Görög’s life, his diverse activities and the library. The second part presents his grant of arms, his last will, the poems written by his admirers and friends to him, his own letters, and the inventory and the documents related to the purchase of the library – items that in great part have been unpublished and unknown so far to researchers and those interested.