This chapter focuses on a concerted effort by the recently established Hungarian Learned
Society (Academy of Sciences) in the 1830s and 1840s to commission and publish translations
of classic and recent works in the arts and sciences as a means of improving vernacular
language, culture and the overall conditions of the country. The documentation of
the project allows a comprehensive assessment of dominant views on what, why and how
to translate in an era crucial to the rise of modern Hungary. The analysis of the
many translations published in the Academy’s journal Tudománytár (Repository of Learning),
intended as a window open for the educated public to the progressive world, shows
the possibilities and the limitations for the journal to fulfil this function. The
chapter also contributes to the discussion about continuity and transition between
the Enlightenment and the age of liberal reform.
