Senhora Isa Adonias has aided cartographers, geographers, and historians with this monumental catalog of colonial maps existent in the Mapoteca of Itamaraty. An excellent introduction discusses general aspects of the history and collection of the Mapoteca. Beginning with a map of the New World dated 1512 and ending with maps dated 1822, this catalog describes in careful detail 824 maps giving their contents, history, source from which acquired, and other miscellaneous information. The second volume reproduces ten representative examples of those maps.
Francisco Adolfo de Varnhagen (1816-1878) was Brazil’s first notable historian and remains one of the principal figures of Brazilian historiography. Ribeiro de Lessa collected 242 of the historian’s widely scattered private letters, many of which previously were unpublished, and arranged them chronologically in this large volume. The result is a new, autobiographical perspective of Varnhagen.
Iniciação aos estudos históricos is a typical layman’s introduction to historiography, but what makes it of extraordinary interest to scholars of Brazilian history is the inclusion of a 43 page essay, “Esboço da Historiografia Brasileira nos Séculos XIX e XX,” by Pedro Moacyr Campos. According to that history professor at the University of São Paulo, organized study and writing of Brazilian history began with the establishment of the Instituto Histórico e Geográfico Brasileiro in 1839. That august body encouraged the “romantic” school of history writing, and from its ranks Varnhagen emerged as Brazil’s foremost historian of the nineteenth century. According to the author, Capistrano de Abreu has been the most influential national historian. He challenged the “romantic” concepts of history and introduced Brazilian historians to German “scientific” history. Capistrano de Abreu also receives credit for his efforts to end stagnating provincialism by writing Brazilian history as a part of Western civilization. The role previously monopolized by the I.H.G.B. has been assumed by the recent Faculties of Philosophy which have made history a profession in Brazil. Moacyr Campos’ ideas and footnotes deserve the attention of all Brazilianists.
The Comissão de Estudo dos Textos da História do Brasil now has published 13 of these useful bibliographies of books and articles related to Brazilian history. Both national and foreign publications are included. Each entry contains full bibliographical information, a summary of the contents, and some critical remarks. The book is a wealth of information. It is a pity that ten years elapsed between the publication of the books and articles and of the bibliography.
