Critical Edition of Sándor Petőfi’s Poems Complete after 52 Years

MTI-Hungary Today 2025.02.16.

The sixth and last volume in the series of critical editions of all the poems of Sándor Petőfi, covering the period from 1848-1849, has been published.

Co-published by the MNMKK National Széchényi Library and Universitas Publishing House, with the support of the Petőfi Cultural Agency, this volume is an outstanding achievement in Hungarian literary studies, reads the publishers’ press release. It has closed the gap in Petőfi’s philology and increased the number of reference books that clearly present Petőfi’s figure and the nature of his language.

The complete series of critical editions of all of Sándor Petőfi’s poems was completed in 52 years, twice the length of the poet’s lifetime.

The sixth volume of the grandiose undertaking, launched in 1973, containing Petőfi’s poems written in 1848 and 1849, not only includes well-known poems reflecting on the events of the Hungarian Revolution and War of Independence, but also Petőfi’s last major epic work, the poetic narrative “The Apostle” (“Az apostol”).

Fact

Sándor Petőfi (1823–1849) was a Hungarian poet and liberal revolutionary. He is considered Hungary’s national poet, and was one of the key figures of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848. He most likely died in the Battle of Segesvár (Sighișoara, now in Romania), one of the last battles of the war.

The only surviving daguerreotype photograph of Sándor Petőfi (around 1844/45). Photo: Gábor Egressy (via Wikipedia)

The last volume of the critical edition of Sándor Petőfi’s poems was presented on Tuesday at the National Library of Foreign Literature maintained by the MNMKK National Széchenyi Library. The volume is available for purchase at the library’s bookstore.

The publication of the volume also provided an opportunity to incorporate new research findings for the 200th anniversary of Petőfi’s birth.

In this way, it pays tribute not only to the poet, but also to the distinguished philologists who have worked on the series over the past five decades, the release writes.

They stressed that Ferenc Kerényi, an outstanding Petőfi scholar who died in 2008, and who produced a significant part of the last two volumes, played a key role in the study of Petőfi’s oeuvre. The work was completed by Márton Szilágyi, who spent over a decade and a half of meticulous philological work on the project, ensuring the authenticity and scholarly thoroughness of the texts.

The critical edition records the full and authentic form of the text, reveals the time and circumstances of its creation, unravels its cultural references, and enriches the reading with detailed information on its reception at the time, the release said.

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Via MTI, Featured image: Facebook/petofi200emlekev