Our Notes & References

First Hungarian translation, published in 1984 without authorisation by an important underground publisher in Communist Hungary.

The first edition with an introduction, the second overall following the very first earlier that year. This edition distinguishes itself from the first not only by a more elegant print and a different cover design, but also by its added content. The first edition consists of only 163 pages, compared to our 192 pp., which include notes on Orwell and his work by the prominent Hungarian émigré writer Zoltán Szabó. A chief publicist of the English editorial office of Radio Free Europe, Szabó (1912–84) died that very same year 1984, August: the notes were likely added here in memoriam, almost three decades after their first appearance in 1956 in the Munich-based émigré magazine Látóhatár [Horizon], where he served as an editor and regular contributor.

Both 1984 editions of 1984 were produced by Magyar Október Szabadsajtó [Hungarian October Free Press], a publishing house founded just a couple of years earlier by the Hungarian anti-Communist dissident György Krassó (1932–91). The company focused on forbidden and other works unwanted by the regime, Krassó’s promotional words being: “Are you interested in the truth about what is happening in Hungary today? […] Read the publications of the Hungarian October Free Press” (quoted by Balogh). Understandably persecuted by the authorities, Krassó emigrated soon afterwards, in 1985, and went on to work for Radio Free Europe.

Interestingly, Orwell’s celebrated dystopia was authorised officially in Hungary very soon, by these same authorities, in 1986 – but in a new translation. It is worth noting that our version by Antal “faithfully kept Orwell’s original title”, unlike later Hungarian editions, starting with the 1986 new translation by László Szijgyártó, which was titled simply with the numbers “1984” (Czeglédi, our here and elsewhere).

György Krassó, the publisher, returned to Hungary in 1989 during the regime change and established a political party under the similar name, Magyar Október Párt.

Scarce outside Hungary: OCLC locates only one copy of this edition (Getty) and two holdings of the first edition: UCL and Szeged University Library (Hungary). No copies traced on the market or at auction outside Hungary.

Bibliography

Czegledi, Lili. “Papírnehezék az 1984-ről” // Tiszatájonline, Oct. 23, 2023; Balogh, Gabor. “Krassó György és a Magyar Október Szabadsajtó Tájékoztatószolgálat létrehozása” // 30 Eve Szabadon, Jan. 31, 2022.