The Milkovich-Zámory Collection
When a widow, Milkovich Zsigmondné (maiden name: Zámory Mária) approached the director of the library in 1904 to inform him that she had decided to donate the institution was a significant event in the history of the city public library of Győr directed by Sefcsik Ferenc, Chief Archivist in those days. The widow desired to endow his deceased husband’s and son’s private library with the city public library, so that the institution this way "would become the public treasure of the edified Hungarian society", and his deceased relatives’ private collection would have been prevented from "decay and evanescence". The city library was happy to receive the donation. Its Articles of Incorporation dates to 24 January 1905.
The bequest was composed of 5925 books and 1670 periodicals, which were endowed with the library. The founder of the library, whose Last Will and Testament dates to 1758, was Milkovich János, the canon of Győr and the provost of Pápócz. The content of the library reflected the cultural preferences of the age and the founder’s interest: the earliest pieces of it are connected to the realms of history, religious studies, law, and philosophy. Further works connected to industry, commerce, natural sciences, arts, and literature were added to the printed documents after 1800. Vast majority of the books in the collection was written in Latin, nearly a quarter of them in German, and only the remaining ten per cent in Hungarian. It was very typical to the collection that a large number of periodicals was available in addition to the books, which proved the former owners’ outstanding demand toward news and novel information.
The most precious pieces of the collection date to the 16th century, such as the Hortus Sanitatis dating to 1517, Johan Cario’s "Chronica" dating to 1546, or Sebastianus Munsterus’ "Cosmographia universa" dating to 1550. Manuscripts and archaic Hungarian books (either printed in Hungary prior to 1711 or written by Hungarian authors published abroad), as well as many other first publications originated in the 19th century found in the collection also increase its value.
The on-site use of the protected documents under supervision is allowed for those who have research permissions. In order to read these sources, the readers/users must fill in the so-called Research Permission Application that can be requested for at the Adult Readers’ Service of the Central Library, or at the Belváros Branch Library, or it can be downloaded from the library’s website and sent to the following e-mail address: gyorivk@gevk.hu. Documents dating to the 19th and 20th centuries (1800s and 1900s) can be studied under the responsible librarian’s supervision at the Belváros Branch Library, while those dating to the 18th century or older (1500s, 1600s, and 1700s) can be examined on the designated site under the library director’s supervision or any person assigned by him/her.