Printing for the Empire, Printing for the Minorities: The Buda University Press (1770- 1848) in Pest -Buda

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Abstract (max. 250 words):
My proposed paper offers an introduction to the history and activity of the Buda University Press, the institution, which, by printing the most important scholarly texts for the nationalities of Hungary, played an important role in the articulation ideas of national awakening in the region. Founded in Upper Hungary in 1577, the Press moved to Pest-Buda in the late 18th century as part of the general relocation of the country’s most important administrative offices from Pozsony to the twin cities. Due to the printing privileges conferred on the Press by the Austrian imperial court, the Press was in the unique position to print with non-Latin alphabet, which make it the most important producer of schoolbooks for a wide range of nationalities of the empire. This role of spreading cultural modernity and cultural enlightenment will be measured against the conditions of literacy in the language areas whose scholars were employed by the university press, as well as against the national composition of the twin cities. The paper will argue that Pest-Buda acted as an important regional center in the period, where national self-conceptualisations were articulated.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Zsuzsanna Varga has taught Hungarian Studies at the University of Glasgow for ten years. Her research interests include 19th women's writing, travel writing and book history.