The Observatory of Letters
Here marks a new waypoint on my journey: I traveled west over to Special Collections. Here is where I have begun work on “the papers”.
“István Hont’s papers” doesn’t sound very intimidating. The image I had in my mind was something neat, organised, and full of exciting and original unpublished work. This was until I learned that István very much favoured the photocopier. He made extensive use of the machine. “Papers”, in this case, refers to paper. Lots and lots of it.
So is this where the journey becomes trudgery? Where my feet begin to plod? Actually, no.
You see, when István Hont has carefully selected the articles and resources he most values concerning a particular topic (and the papers are usually organised by topic), that is rather exciting. It is to me anyway. Yes, the organisation of these is a lot of work. István researched many topics. But it’s rather like climbing up a mountainside which has had steps carved into it through the incisive truth to materials of Hont. At the top is his Observatory, with scores of telescopes each pointed at a different galaxy. When one puts an eye to the telescope, one is delighted to find that István has drawn his own constellation onto the lens. He picked these stars for a reason. Once organised, each folder is a possible North Star for many a fumbling pilot, helmsman, or deckhand.
No need to worry though, I got to the good stuff. Hont received letters from all around the world. They show just how highly he was esteemed by his colleagues and friends. The amount of times he was asked and thanked for, often crucial, help by other historians allows another insight into his expertise beyond simply reading what he published.
Hont didn’t just have colleagues, he had students. The collection includes course evaluations and the comments within really shine. They show sincere warmth for István as someone whose love for the subject inspired and fed into his teaching.
– Samuel Walton