One of the special collections of the ELTE University Library, the Rariora Hungarica collection, established after World War II, preserves special or rare Hungarian-related printed materials published after 1711. Calendars, engravings, dedicated books, first editions by Hungarian authors – we selected the artwork of the month for December from among these treasures.
The gymnastics club, founded in 1903 under the name Typographia SC, provided organized sports opportunities for printing workers. The football club was the first to be formed, playing its first two matches against the Hungarian Athletic Club and UTE (Typographia SC‒BSC 1:0; Typographia SC‒UTE 2:2). Later, they started playing under the name Gutenberg.
More recently, gymnastics and athletics sections were also established, and in the 1920s, the Gutenberg Cycling Club joined them. After World War II, water polo, table tennis, chess, archery, orienteering, and nature-loving sections were also established.
From 1919, the club also published a magazine called Typographia Sport Club, and 11 years later, a weekly magazine called Nyomdászsport was also launched.
This volume, part of the Rariora Hungarica special collection, presents the history of Typography between 1903 and 1973 based on short news items published in the magazine of the Printers' Union. The volume is unique in that it is very small, with a spine measuring only 6 centimeters in length. In previous centuries, the production of miniature books required great expertise, as their production was the same as that of normal-sized books, only on a much smaller scale. This format was suitable for printers to compete to see who could produce smaller but visually appealing publications. Although by the 1970s, with the use of modern printing tools and techniques, this was no longer as much of a challenge for printers as it had been in previous centuries, the form of the mini-book still takes precedence over competition in this profession.
Written by Júlia Rédey-Keresztény