Portuguese and Brazilian Books in the John Carter Brown Library, 1537-1839

New Publication of the John Carter Brown Library

Portuguese and Brazilian Books in the John Carter Brown Library, 1537-1839, with a Selection of Braziliana Printed in Countries Other Than Portugal and Brazil.

A detailed description, item by item, of the finest collection in North America of books relating to Brazil before the country declared its independence from Portugal in 1822, compiled by the rare book cataloguer Valeria Gauz. The bibliography contains 650 titles before 1800, another 500 titles from 1800 to 1822, including 165 printed in Brazil itself after the Impressão Regia opened a branch in Rio de Janeiro in 1808 and presses began operating in Bahia.

Each of the approximately 1,300 items catalogued in the book is annotated with historical and biographical information. The major bibliographies of Luso-Brazilian printing, such as those by Rubens Borba de Moraes, are regularly cited. The entries are arranged chronologically, from 1537 to 1839, within each year the titles are listed alphabetically. The work is completely indexed by author and title, with a special index to government laws, a provenance list, and helpful bibliographical guides.

The author, Valeria Gauz, has been a cataloguer at the National Library in Rio de Janeiro and was employed at the John Carter Brown Library from 1998 to 2005. The Library, an independently funded and administered institution for advanced research in history and the humanities founded in 1846, has unparalleled strength in primary sources relating to the history of North and South America between 1492 and 1825.

400 copies of this bibliography have been printed. It is an essential reference work and an invaluable aid for librarians, scholars, book collectors, and antiquarian booksellers.

The book can be ordered by email. More information about the John Carter Brown Library and its publications on www.jcbl.org.