Oanea Carmen (Babeș-Bolyai University Cluj-Napoca)
In Transylvania, book production started modestly only in the 1520s in Sibiu, aided by the Reformation. However, the individual literary interests surpassed local undertakings. Incunabula reached Transylvania prior to this date through students, scholars, and civil servants. Some circulated among the bibliophiles before entering the collection of the Jesuit College of Cluj during the 17th and 18th centuries. Hence, this paper reveals the dynamics of the rising Transylvanian readership at the beginning of the 16th century by following closely the personal notes of an anonymous reader, who annotated classical and humanist works owned by the College and now housed at the Academy Library in Cluj. Items like Cluj, B. A. R., Inc. C. 13a-e, C. 20; C. 24 provide reading patterns and showcase the owner’s erudition. Of interest is the abundance of humanistic elements, visible both palaeographically and in terms of content. The owner’s attempts to introduce Greek words, to fill in the reserved spaces, and the calligraphic hand stand out among the overlapping layers of annotations. Ultimately, this paper examines the ratio between the notes and symbols, the quantity and quality of glosses and whether they expand the text, correct or challenge certain passages and if in turn, they are challenged by the successive readers.