From cornfield to museum
József Láng, former director of the Petőfi Museum of Literature’s manuscript archive
MúzeumCafé 39.
He is known as the editor of critical editions of Endre Ady’s works and manuscripts, as well as the publisher of other scholarly volumes. In addition to other posts he has held and his years as a librarian, József Láng is primarily known due to his many years spent at the Petőfi Museum of Literature, since as the head of its manuscript archive he played a central role in establishing the institute’s present structure. He talks about why, before the changes of 1989-90, academic and scholarly libraries were in a more favourable position than today, what kind of paper is used to create the standard covering for the protection of manuscripts, how photographs, books and manuscripts were catalogued in the Museum of Literature, why valuable manuscripts faded until they were almost unreadable, and how much could fit into the boot of a Lada 1200. József Láng went from cornfield to university. He grew up amidst peasant surroundings in Katymár, a settlement near Baja where people spoke three languages. He comp-leted his studies in Baja as a qua-lified bookkeeper, enterprise planner and statistician. He went to Budapest’s University of Humanities in 1956, at the same time obtaining a place at Eötvös College. He worked in the Ministry of Culture’s Literature Department for nine months and then spent over eight years as a librarian. He joined the Petőfi Museum of Literature in September 1972. From museology and research he became a businessman, as a first step by heading the publishing section of the Institute of Literary Studies. At the request of Tibor Klaniczay, Láng, Péter Kőszeghy and Gyula Mayer established a scholarly publishing house, Argumentum. Thus, József Láng turned to another path, while museology and research have become increasingly the world of memories.