LIBRARY CATALOGS

ALEPH: The Library's online catalog (OPAC)

Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences - OPAC (default)

contains full bibliographic records of almost all documents (books, periodicals, manuscripts, rare books, mikrofilms, etc) held in the Library’s collections.

Subsets of the database:

Periodicals

contains the bibliographic data and holdings information of every periodical in the collection.

Hungarian Academy of Sciences: CSc & DSc dissertations (1953-)

contains the bibliographic data of CSc and DSc theses submitted to the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (1953–).

French dissertations (1993-1998)

the bibliographical database of French university dissertations (1993–1998); the full text of the dissertations is available in microformat.

Old Books - Rare Books (RBK)

contains full bibliographic records of pre-1850 books in the Department of Manuscripts & Rare Books as well as the Miscellanea of the Oriental Collection.

Incunabula (INC)

contains full bibliographic records of incunables in the Department of Manuscripts & Rare Books.

Manuscripts of the Oriental Collection

contains full bibliographic records of manuscripts in Oriental and Western languages held by the Oriental Collection.

Modern Manuscripts, Literary Bequests (MSS)

contains full bibliographic records of manuscripts held by the Department of Manuscripts & Rare Books.

Card Catalogs

Alphabetical catalog of books & monographs

Contains bibliographic records of books acquired in the period 1950–2001 as well as of those re-cataloged from the pre-1950 collection. It consists of two parts: the records of books processed before 1985 and those after 1986. The catalog card cabinets themselves reflect this: the post-1986 holdings are entirely separated. Closed to further entries in 2001. (The alphabetical card catalog is complemented by the old catalog of non-recataloged books stored in the earlier system of subjects and kept in folders.)

Catalog of series

Contains the titles of series in alphabetical order; each title is followed by cards in numeric sequence showing the works belonging to a particular series title. Up to 1985 it had been built as a separate catalog; the post-1986 cards are integrated into the alphabetical catalog of books and monographs. Closed to further entries in 2001.

Catalog of periodicals

contains the titles and holdings information of periodicals in alphabetical order, including yearbooks, annual reports and monograph-like serials. Closed to further entries in 2008.

Catalogs of the Oriental Collection

The catalogues of the core collection include the holdings of the Oriental Collection as well. Books related to the Orient (e.g. biblical studies, history of religion, philosophy etc.) but written in various European languages can often be found in the card catalog of the core collection.

Books in the holdings of the Oriental Collection acquired before 1986 and not yet available in the online catalog can be can be found in the card catalog of the Oriental Collection.

In addition to the online catalogue, the Scheiber Collection, which is relevant for Hebrew, Judaic and Arabic studies, can also be consulted in a printed version (open-shelf Hebrew H50).

The description of the printed books of the Kaufmann Collection is available online at: http://real-eod.mtak.hu/id/eprint/653

There is a separate card catalogue for the periodicals of Oriental studies, which can also be searched in the online catalogue.
Important remark

Since various systems have been used for the transliteration of Oriental names and titles, it might be necessary to search the catalogs according to different criteria. Diacritics should not be used for searching and browsing the online catalogue.

Our manuscripts and special collections can be searched in the following catalogues:

Printed catalogues:

  • Néhai Dr. Kaufmann Dávid tanár könyvtárának héber kéziratai és könyvei. Összeállítja és ismerteti Weisz Miksa. Budapest, 1906.
  • Geniza-Fragmente der Bibliothek David Kaufmann s.A. im Besitze der Ungarischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. Hrsg. von Max Weisz. Budapest, 1924.
  • The Persian Manuscripts of the Vámbéry-Bequest. By Eve Apor. Budapest, 1971. 19 p., 1 t.
  • A Scheiber-könyvtár katalógusa / Catalogue of the Scheiber Library. Összeállította / compiled by Kárteszi Á. Kordován V., Ormos I. Budapest 1992, 450 p.
  • The Mongol and Manchu Manuscripts and Blockprints in the Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Descr. by György Kara. Budapest, 2000. x, 602 p., [12] t.
  • Catalogue of the Collections of Sir Aurel Stein in the Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Comp. by John Falconer, Ágnes Kárteszi, Ágnes Kelecsényi, Lilla Russell-Smith. Ed. by Éva Apor and Helen Wang. Budapest, 2002. 350 p., ill.
  • Supplement to the Catalogue of the Collections of Sir Aurel Stein in the Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Comp. by John Falconer, Ágnes Kárteszi, Ágnes Kelecsényi, Lilla Russell-Smith. Ed. by Éva Apor and Helen Wang. Budapest, 2007. 191 p., ill.
  • Catalogue of the Turkish Manuscripts in the Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Comp. by Ismail Parlatir, György Hazai and Barbara Kellner-Heinkele. Budapest, 2007. 664 p., 27 pl.
  • A Catalogue of the Tibetan Manuscripts and Block Prints in the Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Comp. by Gergely Orosz. Budapest, 2008–2009. Vol. 1. xv, 752 p., Vol. 2. 891 p., Vol. 3. Indices, viii, 303 p., 14 pl., CD-ROM.
  • Catalogue of the Arabic Manuscripts in the Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. By Kinga Dévényi with Munif Abdul-Fattah and Katalin Fiedler. Budapest–Leiden, 2015. Budapest–Leiden, 2015. xviii, 554 p., ill.
  • Catalogue of the Persian Manuscripts in the Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. By Benedek Péri with Mojdeh Mohammadi and Miklós Sárközy. Budapest–Leiden, 2018. xiv, 390 p., ill.

Online catalogs:

In the database of the online catalog Manuscripts of the Oriental Collection the following special subsets can be searched:


The Genizahs of The Kaufmann CollectionThe Kaufmann Collection can be studied at the website of the Friedberg Genizah Project after registration.

Several historic photographs of the Stein Collections are freely available at the website of the International Dunhuang Project (British Library).

The miniatures of the Shahnama manuscripts form part of the Cambridge Shahnama Project.


Catalogs of the Department of Manuscripts & Rare Books

Manuscripts & autographs:

The holdings processed before 1954 are to be found in a subject catalog and two alphabetical card catalogs in boxes: the material of volumes or analecta type documents and that of the correspondence are separated. The manuscripts processed after 1954 are given the shelf mark "Ms" plus numerus currens; they are accessible in an alphabetical author catalog kept in drawered cabinets.
Sub-base MSS contains full bibliographic records of all these documents. Bibliographic records of recently processed manuscripts are available in sub-base MSS only. Some collections and bequests of major importance have printed catalogs, which are available online as well. Obituaries preserved here can be searched in a separate alphabetical card catalog.

Old Archives of the Academy (RAL):

Its material is searchable in a card catalog up to 1890; indexes and other auxiliary guides are available for the subsequent period.

CSc & DSc theses:

The theses are searchable in the alphabetical author card catalog, in three printed catalog volumes (1950–1974, 1975–1979, 1980–1984) and in the DIS sub-base of the Library's OPAC.

Old & rare books:

Sub-base MTA01/RBK contains full bibliographic records of pre-1850 books in the Department of Manuscripts & Rare Books as well as the Miscellanea of the Oriental Collection. The modern catalog of incunables, with descriptions of the individual copies (provenance, owners’ notes, embellishments, binding, completeness of the copy etc.) – compiled by Marianne Rozsondai and Béla Rozsondai – is accessible in the ALEPH sub-base Incunabula (INC). The English version of the catalog has been published (Catalogue of the Incunables in the Library and Information Centre of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Budapest: Argumentum, 2013). The electronic processing of 16th-century books is in progress.