Szenczi Kertész Ábrahám was born in Szenc at an unknown date and died in Nagyszeben (Szeben, Hermannstadt, Sibiu) in the spring of 1667. He was a printer. He probably learned the printing trade in the Netherlands in Leyden, in the workshop of the Elzevirek. In 1640, he was the head of the printing press set up by the Reformed Church in Várad.
On 10 December 1648, the Transylvanian prince Rákóczi György II issued the coat of arms by which he raised the printer Szenci Kertész Ábrahám of Várad (Nagyvárad, Oradea) to the nobility.
The coat of arms is divided into two parts: in the upper blue field, a double-tailed golden griffin bird is standing on a pink-black box, facing to the right, holding in its claws the ink balls used in printing; in the lower black field there is a blue lily with two white roses attached to its chalice. The letter of the coat of arms explains the symbolism of the image: the griffin, with its swift flight, is a symbol of knowledge, and the printing press is a reference to the profession that earned the master his nobility:
‘You have cultivated the art of typography for the benefit of the Christian community and the Respublika’, reads the explanatory note.
According to the historian Szalárdi János, the publication of the Bible of Várad was made possible by Bethlen István of Iktár, who brought “an excellent typography at great expense” from Lüneburg for the Reformed Church and school in Várad and donated a thousand thalers (500 gold coins according to his will) for the printing of the Bible. The Bethlen emblem on the publication’s title page, with two swans shot through the neck with arrows, maybe a reference to his support. But also Prince Rákóczi I György and his wife, Lorántffy Zsuzsanna were keen on the printing of the Bible. The printing press was supplied with type brought from Elzevirek.
It is well known that the first complete translation of the Bible in Hungarian was published in 1590 in Vizsoly in folio, or half-sheet format, but after that it was published for a long time only abroad (in Hanau and Oppenheim) and in smaller sizes. The Bible of Várad was also in folio format and contained the translation by Károli Gáspár, which was revised by Köleséri Samuel. The printing of the book began in 1658, and the work took several years, also due to the printing techniques of the time.
These years, however, proved fatal for Transylvania and Partium: Prince Rákóczi György II was mortally wounded in the battle with the Turks between Gyalu and Fenes, and Várad was captured by the Turks in 1660. The defenders of the castle, however, managed to surrender Várad on terms that allowed them to take their possessions with them and leave the city unharmed.
As the eyewitness Szalárdi wrote: “All things, books, all instruments belonging to the school, the holy church (on which were typographic items and the not finalized biblical copies, the paper worth many thalers, bells, the property belonging to the school, the mill and all books and letters of the chaplaincy were included), being among the first items to be taken away freely by the people.”
The retreating troops from the castle and the population of the town could therefore take the printing equipment and the finished sheets of the Bible being printed with them to nearby Debrecen. The work was later completed in 1661 in Kolozsvár by Kertész Ábrahám of Szenc, as this information is given on the title page.
His carefully crafted, beautifully printed books stand out among the publications of Hungary. His most famous publication is the new edition of the Bible translation of Károlyi Gáspár, the Váradi Bible (1661). Some say 10,000 copies were printed. He started his printing in Várad but finished it already in Kolozsvár.
The quality and the large number of publications produced are proof that Szenci Kertész’s printing press in Várad was well-equipped. During the 28 years of its existence – until the death of Szenci Kertész – a total of 190 works are known to have been published. Calendars, catechisms, textbooks, hymnbooks, and occasional publications were also published, but the English Puritanism’s work on piety, the Hungarian translation of the Praxis pietatis or the Divine Canticles of Balassi Bálint and Rimay János were also published here, as were the Psalms of St. David translated by Szenci Molnár Albert.
The printing house was in Várad between 1640 and 1660, in Kolozsvár between 1660 and 1662, and in Szeben from 1662 to 1667. Szenci Kertész was a respectable and wealthy man, his house in Várad Castle was close to that of Szalárdi János, and Tótfalusi Kis Miklós (printer and typesetter in Kolozsvár) knew that he had several palaces in the castle. On his arrival in Kolozsvár, Szenci was chosen as the bell-keeper of the Reformed parish. He died in 1667 without heirs in Szeben, and the printing house passed to the fiscus, which was donated to the Reformed College of Kolozsvár by Prince Apafi Mihály, merging it with the princely printing house in Gyulafehérvár.
Source: Dr. Restás Attila, Magyarságkutató Intézet (Hungarian Research Institute)
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