Patterson Collection is located in the Office of the acting Director of the School of English and American Studies of ELTE. Access to the old and rare books is limited.
Experts from Arthur Patterson by G.F.Cushing, published in Hungarian Studies in English, XVIII (1985), pp. 5-7: "Although his books formed the nucleus of the library of the English Department of the University of Budapest, his papers were destroyed during World War II. The most complete biographical sketch is still that of Szinnyei, published only six years after his death.
From this account, and from the few personal details Patterson himself mentions, we learn that he was born in London in 1835 and was educated privately in Radnor. He went up to Cambridge in 1855, somewhat later than was customary at that time, and studied there for four year. His prize essay on the caste system was his first published work. But as a boy he had been interested in Hungary, and between 1862 and 1867 he spent three comparatively long periods in the country, of five, eleven and twenty-three months respectively...Only in 1884 did the Minister of Education direct the University to establish a chair of English and advertise for a suitable holder. Of the seven applicants, Patterson was selected, although he was already aged 51 and a foreigner. It was a condition of his appointment that he had to become a Hungarian national...In 1886 he was appointed Extraordinary Professor of English Language and Literature at the University of Budapest...He died in Budapest in 1899, having seen the establishment of systematic English teaching at the University there."
And Tibor FRANK also mentions him in The British image of Hungary 1865/1870 (1976), p. 145: "His Hungary-oriented activity, his connections with prominent Hungarian writers and scholars led to his appointment in 1886 to the newly-founded Department of English of the University of Budapest where he continued working until his death in 1899. With his name is linked, amongst other things, one of the first Hungarian manuals on the English language...
p. 298: The papers of Patterson were destroyed during World War II; some of his books are kept by the Department of English of Budapest University.
Further readings:
Frank Tibor, "Bibliothèque du Comte Etienne Károlyi. A fóti kastélytól az Angol Tanszékig". In: Ittzés Gábor, Kiséry András, szerk., Míves semmiségek/Elaborate trifles: Tanulmányok Ruttkay Kálmán 80. születésnapjára (Piliscsaba: Pázmány Péter Katolikus Egyetem, 2002), pp. 349-356. (Pázmány Papers in English and American Studies; 2.)
Tibor Frank, "Arthur J. Patterson and the Austro-Hungarian Settlement of 1867," in: László Péter and Martin Rady, eds., British-Hungarian Relations Since 1848 (London: Hungarian Cultural Centre/School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University College, London, 2004), pp. 47-62;
Tibor Frank, Picturing Austria-Hungary: The British Perception of the Habsburg Monarchy 1865-1870 (Boulder, CO: Social Science Monographs--New York: Columbia University Press, 2005), pp. 109-119.
Frank Tibor, "Arthur J. Patterson és a The Magyars," In: Háda Béla, Ligeti Dávid Ádám, Majoros István, Maruzsa Zoltán, Merényi Krisztina, Petneházi Margit, szerk., Eszmék, forradalmak, háborúk: Vadász Sándor 80 éves (Budapest: ELTE Új- és Jelenkori Egyetemes Történeti Tanszék, 2010), pp. 141-153.
AMERICANA: The gift of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Exerpt from the Introduction by Pasteiner Iván (1928): "...This gift donation consists of 766 titles, and 1195 volumes, and covers the basic publications of the United States of America, related to its political, constitutional, social and economical situation, as well as its literature, history and geography. In addition to the theoretical works by American writers, it includes a homogeneous edition of American authors.
The University Library created a so-called Americana collection, adding further publications on the above mentioned topics to it in the future. Thus the foundation of an American Library has been laid, similarly to Hamburg and Vienna."
Formerly the United States Information Services (USIS) Library, a collection of c. 30,000 volumes of books and 2,000 video cassettes, is available for the SEAS faculty and students free of charge, while the public is charged a refundable deposit upon each book loan. Membership requirements and borrowing privileges:
- faculty members and students of the School of English and American Studies: free (items included in the maximum number of loans)
- teachers, students and other members of ELTE: free (max. 3 books at a time)
- all other members of the public: 3000 HUF/book as deposit (max. 3 books at a time)
The books and videotapes of this collection are to be searched for in the computerized catalogue, and may be borrowed after filling in a request slip with the proper data. Videotapes can be borrowed exclusively for teaching purposes by the teachers of the School of English and American Studies, or by those members who bring the authorization of a faculty teacher each time they want to borrow a video film. Reference books marked with a letter "R" may not be borrowed.
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Last modified: February 2, 2011 by: Nóra Deák