Enyedi György: Explicationes locorum Veteris et Novi Testamenti.
György Enyedi: Explicationes locorum Veteris et Novi Testamenti (Explanations of the Places of the Old and New Testaments).

A Transylvanian Exegetical Work in the West European Book Trade

Summary/Abstract: The Explicationes Locorum Veteris et Novi Testamenti, the main exegetical work of György Enyedi (1555–1597), the third Unitarian bishop of Transylvania, was printed in four editions during the 16th and 17th centuries. For centuries it was a fundamental source for Unitarian exegesis, in spite of the scandals that followed the printing of almost every edition. The Heltai Press in Kolozsvár (Cluj-Napoca), Transylvania printed the first Latin edition in 1598 (without the date, place of publication, or the printer’s name on the title page). Early in the 17th century, Máté Toroczkai (1553–1616), the fifth Transylvanian Unitarian bishop, translated the Explicationes into Hungarian, and the Heltai press printed this version in 1619 and 1620. The 1619 edition was initially banned, and Unitarians were ordered to reprint the title page without the place of publication, or the printer’s name. The primary focus of this article is the second Latin edition which was the only edition printed outside of Transylvania, and again was printed without a date or place of publication, or the printer’s name. It has long been thought that it was printed in Groningen (Netherlands) c. 1670 or 1684 owing to mentions of the edition in both the Bibliotheca Anti-Trinitariorum (1684), by Christoph Sand (1644–1680), and the Historia bibliothecae Fabricianae (1717–1724), by Johann Fabrizius (1644–1729). Studies of surviving copies in England, the Netherlands, the United States of America, and Canada suggest new and unique perspectives on the history of the reception of Enyedi’s theological work in Europe and America, and of the printing of Transylvanian Unitarian works outside of the Transylvanian Unitarian community.

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