The books of Mihály Tofeus (1629–1684) in the Franciscan Friary Library of Dés

Abstract

Mihály Tofeus Transylvanian Reformed Bishop’s Library was inventoried after his death and his volumes could also be auctioned. The remaining books are kept in libraries from Transylvania and Hungary. In this paper we present the eight volumes identified in the Franciscan Friary collection from Dej. We are trying to find out how Tofeus’s books came to a Catholic collection and whether they used them in the 18th century. The former library know from Tofeus’s list has been enriched with a new volume and three works as a result of the research. The authors of the volumes from Dej include Jesuit, Arminian theologian and Hebrew philologist. A small number of non-conformist works were also once in his library. The research can be continued by examining the marginalia, which may provide new information about Tofeus’s reading literacy, theological views.