István Schönvisner and the foundation of the Episcopal Library of Szombathely

Abstract

One of the first measures of János Szily (1735–1799), the first bishop of the Diocese of Szombathely, was to open a library for his newly established seminary. Initially, István Schönvisner (1738–1818), the custos of the University Library of Pest assisted him to compile the library’s fund. In the present paper, I would like to explain a detail from the process of the library’s foundation, which is specifically related to Schönvisner. 
After describing the process of handling the banned books from the monastic orders’ libraries dissolved by Emperor Joseph II, an attempt to present the thematic distribution of the works acquired by Schönvisner will be made. I aim to elaborate the copies of the section Historici Profani. Based on the examination of their provenance, identification of the dissolved monastic libraries, from which the books of the new library originated, will be offered.