The National Library of Brazil
1946; Duke University Press; Volume: 26; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1215/00182168-26.4.618
ISSN1527-1900
Autores Tópico(s)Information Science and Libraries
ResumoAmong scholars in the field of Latin-American history in the United States the National Library of Rio de Janeiro is hardly known.I have found that many of my colleagues are scarcely familiar with its publica tions, even though they are available to them in most of the university libraries of the country.Neither are they generally aware that by virtue of the size and quality of its holdings the principal Brazilian library is also the outstanding one in Latin America.Moreover, they do not always realize that the library is the oldest of its kind in Latin America, with antecedents that go back to the eighteenth century.In view of these observations a few words on the institution are in order.Many things could of course be said about the library, but I shall limit myself for the most part to a brief description of its history and principal publications, which will probably be enough to give the reader a general idea of its importance.As a final note, since a new administration has recently been inaugurated, I shall also touch upon the latest changes in the library's organization and policy. IIThe beginnings of the National Library of Rio de Janeiro are the result of two major disasters in Portugal.1One was the Lisbon earth quake of 1755; the other was the Napoleonic invasion of 1807.Following the earthquake, which led to the destruction of the private library of the royal family, King Joseph I (1750-1777) organized another library, to which was added, between 1770 and 1773, the valuable books and prints that had been collected by the celebrated bibliographer Diogo Barbosa Machado.Subsequently
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