Bibliothecae Samuelis S.R.I. Com. Teleki de Szék. Pars Prima [-Tertia]

Finely engraved port. of the collector & engraved title in Vol. I. xxxvii, [11], 313, [25] pp.; xxxvi, [14], 436, [41] pp.; 1 p.l., iv, [4], 285, [25] pp., [3], 290-672, [30] pp. Three vols. (Vol. III in two parts). 8vo, modern paste-paper boards, uncut. Vienna: M. Pulio, 1796 [Vol. I]; M.A. Schmidt, 1800 [Vol. II]; A. Pichler, 1811 [Vol. III]. First edition of one of the rarest of all private library catalogues; this copy lacks, as usual, the fourth volume published in 1819. WorldCat locates only one possibly complete set (and the bibliographical details of that set, in Hungary, are sketchy); in the U.S., the only three sets located by WorldCat - Newberry, Columbia, and Harvard - all lack the fourth volume (Harvard lacks the third volume as well). The Oxford copy also lacks the fourth volume. Teleki (1739-1822), formed his collection over a long period and his books relating to Hungarian and Transylvanian history were only rivaled by the Szechenyi library. After Teleki's death, the family donated in 1826 a large part of the library - about 30,000 volumes - to the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and this was the beginning of the Academy's library. The Teleki catalogue, along with that of Szechenyi, are the basis for all bibliographical information relating to Hungarian authors, history, and literature. They have never been rendered obsolete by subsequent publications. Fine set and of great rarity. Our copy has the very rare and attractive frontispiece portrait of Teleki which is usually missing. ❧ Taylor, Book Catalogues, p. 264-(the Johns Hopkins copy seems to be a ghost).