The exhibition, which opens on the 85th anniversary of the author's death, features the original manuscripts, print drafts and first editions not only of Eclipse of the Crescent Moon, but also of Slave of the Huns and Prisoners of God, two more of Gárdonyi's historical novels. Also on display are Gárdonyi's desk and his armchair. In the exhibition, visitors learn the story from József Gárdonyi, the writer's son, of how Gárdonyi's children cajoled their father to tell them the story of the famous captain Gergely Bornemissza and the siege of the castle 400 years earlier, a story which Gárdonyi then committed to paper.
To celebrate the anniversary of Gárdonyi's death, local schoolchildren have been reading aloud from the Eclipse of the Crescent Moon in the castle for the past two weeks. The last three pages of the epic will be read by the actor László Tahi Tóth, who played narrator of the book in the famous 1968 film adaptation.
Source: Hungarian News Agency (MTI)
