Gábor Kecskeméti
Institute for Literary Studies of Research Center for the Humanities of Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest — University of Miskolc
The Textological Committee of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences was founded in 1960 and has been operating ever since without interruption. Its functions include formulation of obligatory norms and methodological recommendations for critical text editions of Hungarian national classics; coordination and supervision of such works in different workshops; approval of plans for text editions; and accreditation of series and individual volumes as scholarly editions. In short: the Textological Committee provides quality assurance for text editions of Hungarian national classics, including the Latin-language oeuvre of early modern Humanists with Hungarian origin or relevance. The efforts of the committee resulted in several hundred volumes of critical text editions in the past decades, and thus, the most important authors in Hungarian literary history are available for study in reliable editions of high standards that are based on carefully considered uniform principles. So it seems that everything is alright with text editions of works in Hungarian or in Latin of Hungarian literary history. We would have every reason to be satisfied if the objective of our work was still the same as the original goal at the time of the foundation of the Textological Committee: the production of editions in print. However, in the 21st century we cannot overlook the need for the availability of critical editions in electronic form. And the current methods and technology used in Hungary are only partially suitable for this.