Tartozásunk Kovács Máténak (és magunknak).

Our debt to Máté Kovács (and to ourselves).

Máté Kovács (1906-1972) was Chair of the LIS Department at the Budapest Roland Eötvös University, a library-politician and scholar of library science. His oeuvre was remembered on a number of occasions in 2006, the centenary of his birth. It was an important stage in his lifework when he compiled, together with his staff, the anthology on the history of the book, libraries, printing and the press (A könyv és könyvtár a magyar társadalom életében), as a theoretical background for LIS education, and as a basis for a potential professional manual. The quantity of texts collected has exceeded the planned size, so a decision was made to publish the anthology in two chronological volumes: From the beginnings to 1848 (1963), From 1849 to 1945 (1970). From his correspondence with the publishing house it is known that in 1970 the materials for the third volume (From 1945 to the present) were also practically complete. Unfortunately the manuscript has disappeared and could not be traced ever since. The essay describes - by analysing Máté Kovács' legacy - how the volumes were compiled, the structure of the anthology and its pedagogical objectives. The author considers what the profession could do for producing a supplement for the missing third volume, for compiling an overview of the era in question. He also suggests that the anthology's two original volumes should be digitised. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]