Of the numerous foreign travelers and scholars who recorded visits to Latin America in the early nineteenth century, one of the most noteworthy, yet least known, is the German physician and naturalist, Georg Heinrich von Langsdorff (1774-1852). A scientist and savant in the Humboldt tradition, Langsdorff maintained ties with scholars and scholarly institutions in a number of European capitals, including the Russian Academy of Sciences, in St. Petersburg. This latter affiliation, combined with a special knowledge of Portuguese imperial affairs gained through previous residence and travel, led to the appointment of Langsdorff in 1812 as Russian consul-general in Rio de Janeiro, a post he was to occupy for over 15 years.
During his prolonged stay in Brazil, Langsdorff devoted himself to a remarkable range of activities (e.g. farming, immigrant colonization), the most significant being an ambitious scientific expedition, which he personally organized and which under the direct patronage of Tsar Alexander I explored vast areas of the Brazilian interior between 1822 and 1829. This expedition, which numbered among its participants the celebrated artists Johann Moritz Rugendas, Amadey Adriane Taunay, and Hercules Florence, amassed a wealth of materials relating to all aspects of Brazilian reality. The bulk of these materials was shipped back to St. Petersburg, where, as a consequence of Langsdorff’s permanent incapacitation from illness, it was relegated to the oblivion of storage cabinets and specimen cases. Not until the early twentieth century were these materials again brought to light, while it is only in the past 10 or 15 years that a serious effort has been made to organize and describe them and to make them available for scholarly research.
The present volume represents the result of this effort to date. Issued on the 200th anniversary of Langsdorff’s birth, it offers scholars a preliminary guide to expedition materials (775 items) preserved in Soviet archives. The volume comprises an explanatory preface, a lengthy background article by B. N. Komissarov, seven descriptive sections, and a summary in Portuguese. Materials described are arranged under the following categories: 1) diaries; 2) unpublished accounts and studies; 3) research notes and related documentation collected by expedition participants; 4) area maps and plans of population centers; 5) sketches, drawings, and paintings; 6) documents relating to the organization and work of the expedition; and 7) correspondence, comprising letters to and from Langsdorff in his capacity as expedition leader. The volume also contains some graphic material, including reproductions of previously unpublished scenes by Rugendas, Taunay, and Florence.
Individual entries give the original titles of items listed, together with Russian translations of materials in other languages; in the absence of specific titles, entries have been appropriately identified by the compilers. All materials are described as to content and format, with precise archival data provided at the end of each entry. Occasionally the researcher is referred to additional sources relating to a given item. The utility of this volume has been further enhanced by the inclusion of name, subject, and geographic indices, as well as a duplicate table of contents in Portuguese.
The Langsdorff materials constitute a major source for the study of early nineteenth century Brazil, and most notably the provinces of Minas Gerais, São Paulo, and Mato Grosso. Publication of this provisional guide therefore represents an important contribution to scholarship and, as such, is to be applauded. One can only hope that access to these materials will be governed by a similar concern for science.
