The building that hosts one of the most important collections of old books of Transylvania acquired its current shape between 1799 and 1803, being a former home, expanded and adapted for its role as library, which it still holds today. Count Sámuel Teleki, an erudite and true illuminist, holding an important position of chancellor of Transylvania, closely related to the the Mureș area through his origins and the fact that he spent part of his life at his personal residence in Dumbrăvioara (a village only a few kilometers away from Tîrgu Mureș), establishes the first city library by making his 40,000 books – some of which were unique editions published by famous European printing houses – available to the public. More important collections were added in time to this initial fund, currently amounting to 250,000 tomes. In 1785, the count bought the building on the corner of Bolyai and Borsos Tamás streets from baroness Rhédey Kata, nee Wesselény. The building was L-shaped and already had one storey. Several plans to expand it were drawn up starting with 1797. Architects Ernst Koch and Ugrai László, both of Viennese descent, were involved in this project. Eventually, the count chose Koch's plan and appointed Transylvanian Antal Türk to build it. The latter died before the works even started, therefore the count was compelled to find another builder. Thus, Schlaff Ignáz took charge of the construction and, in his turn, drew up two alternative blueprints. Even though it was built in two stages, relatively far apart in time, the building has a unitary appearance, as well as balanced and harmonious shapes which place it within the late Transylvanian baroque trend. The final plan is U-shaped, with its left wing slightly deviating from the perpendicular axis. The entrance is on Bolyai street, through a passage with a semi-circular arch which leads directly to the interior yard. Semi-circular archways supported by massive posts open towards the interior yard both on the ground floor and on the first floor, on the short wing and on part of the long, older wing. The most impressive part of the building is the far end of the new wing hosting the large hall of the library, which has an elevation including both the ground floor and the first floor. It has an elegant architectural structure with Bohemian caps supported by two rows of profiled posts and a gallery opened by archways at the level of the first floor. Paintings and sculptures were ordered to decorate this room. The large portrait of count Teleki placed on the wall across the entrance was painted by Tusch János. It depicts count Teleki at an old age, dressed in nobleman's clothes and surrounded by the attributes of his activities as a cultivated person. The background of the painting consists of an interior with several pieces of furniture and a sumptuous curtain, depicted in a typical baroque manner. The bronze busts of the count and his wife, Zsuzsanna Bethlen Iktári, were made in 1805 by F. Thaller. The other  sculptures of Greek classics, historical figures or mythical characters, were authored by Viennese sculptor Mathias Mayer. The rest of the rooms are significantly smaller, most of them placed in two parallel rows and covered by cylindrical archways with penetrations, archways supported by double arcs or bohemian caps. Access to the first floor is done by a large wooden staircase near the entrance to the large library hall. On the outside, the main façade has an uncomplicated appearance; the few articulations in the walls are marked by lesena delimiting five registers. It must be noted that in the past the building had two access gates, symmetrical with respect to the median axis of the façade. One of this was later walled up, thus leaving only the one on the older wing of the building. The windows are rectangular and do not have strongly profiled frameworks. The building is gable-roofed, a type of roof that can also be found on other Baroque edifices in the city. Bibliography:  Ioan Eugen Man, Tîrgu-Mureș, istorie urbană de la începuturi până în 1850, Tîrgu-Mureș, Ed. Nico, 2006, pp. 228-242. Sebestyén Spielmann Mihály, Telekiana in vol. "Tîrgu-Mureș, oraș al artelor", published by the Tîrgu-Mureș City Hall in cooperation with the "Vatra" review, pp. 171-184.