The editing history of the first Hungarian city monograph in the ligth of the correspondence between István Schönvisner and János Szily

Abstract

The first Hungarian city monograph, the Antiquitatum et Historiae Sabariensis ab origine usque ad praesens tempus libri novem by István Schönvisner was published in 1791, commissioned by János Szily, the first bishop of Szombathely. Their correspondence can be found in the Library of the Diocese of Szombathely, from which we can get aquinted with the process of the creation, throught about sixty letters: for example the selection of the resources, the illustration, or the other professionals involved in the publication of the book. In this paper I seek to figure out a few particular essential phases of the nearly five years of work, the problems appeared during this time, based on their correspondence.