On the afternoon of 21 July 2026, István Bácskai (22 July 1956, Szentes) was honoured with a surprise volume at the 'Gondolat Olvasó' in Szentkirályi Street. On this occasion, the celebrant received the festschrift OSIRIS & GONDOLAT: A 70th Birthday Tribute to István Bácskai, edited by Péter Tusor, Csaba Pléh, and Orsolya Szaniszló. Alongside personal recollections and greetings, the volume contains scholarly studies reflecting the diverse academic profile of Gondolat Publishing House. Its distinctive illustrations are the work of István Fábián. Produced with the collaboration of Éva Lipót, Mihály Gál, Boróka Szebedy, and Lehel Xantus, the volume is available for free download below in e-book format.
Gondolat Publishing House has been the publisher of the Collectanea Vaticana Hungariae (CVH) series since its launch in 2004. As owner and director of the publishing house, István Bácskai has played a decisive role in the establishment of the series and in ensuring its continuous publication from the very beginning. Without his steadfast commitment and support, Collectanea Vaticana Hungariae could scarcely have become one of the internationally recognised scholarly book series of Hungarian historical research. Indirectly, the publishing house also gave rise to the typographical concept of the Publikationen der Ungarischen Gesichtsforschung in Wien series, whose volumes, based on the visual design of the CVH, have appeared in Vienna since 2009. Gondolat is likewise the publisher of the Fraknói Research Group’s other major series devoted primarily to diocesan history, Collectanea Studiorum et Textuum, launched in 2015.
The title of the commemorative volume—OSIRIS & GONDOLAT—alludes to the shared history of the two publishing houses. The collaboration that ultimately led to the establishment of the Collectanea Vaticana Hungariae series had already begun in 1997 during the preparation of the festschrift dedicated to Ágnes R. Várkonyi, at a time when István Bácskai was still co-owner and managing director of Osiris Publishing House. Readers—historians and non-specialists alike—will find in the volume recollections of this now historic period, alongside the many tributes celebrating István Bácskai on the occasion of his seventieth birthday.
