The recent interest in quantitative history has been limited in its applicability to the Latin American area because of the restricted availability of statistical materials. While scholars have concentrated on interpreting a rather narrow range of more easily obtained figures or have gathered specialized data for their own particular purposes, few of them have wanted to engage in the often unrewarding tasks of bringing together in readily usable form the staples for basic research. This survey of Colombian historical statistics provides one important starting point for the type of study which should be done for each of the Latin American republics. Colombia presents a representative model in terms of demography and development of the other nations of the region and maintains a solid tradition of official statistical publication extending back to the third quarter of the nineteenth century.
Rather than attempting comprehensive coverage, certain significant problems of general and methodological interest have been selected for presentation. The six chapters, each by various authors, deal with the following: general censures taken before 1905; real wages for the construction, industrial and governmental sectors from 1863 to 1963; price indices from 1846 to 1933; foreign trade from 1835 to 1962; terms of trade for tobacco and coffee; and presidential voting statistics for elections from 1825 to 1856. The figures are presented in clear, easily understood tables, with a minimum of typographical errors (and those which do occur are mostly corrected in a fe de erratas at the conclusion of the book).
However, an important requirement of statistical studies is a high degree of uniformity, and this work clearly shows the need for a strong editorial hand. The lack of a consistent format, such as comparable chronological divisions, standardization of units of measurement, and explanations of means of computation, weakens its utility for research scholars interested in finding patterns of development. Readers will be impressed by the sophisticated analysis of tobacco and coffee prices, which stands as a model of data transformed into meaningful commentary on the growth of a monocultural economy. But, the introductory and supplementary notes are for the most part woefully inadequate. An introduction concerning the problems of quantitative history for Colombia would have been most helpful. Nevertheless, we have here an inspiring first step.
