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Introduction to the Catalogue and Supplement

Nearly forty years ago, in 1972, the Lilly Library at Indiana University organized a special exhibit to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the declaration of Brazilian independence. Rarities from the Bernardo Mendel Collection, the Latin American Manuscript Division, and the first acquisitions in the Charles R. Boxer Collection were displayed alongside special loans of material by Boxer, who taught graduate seminars in The Lilly; and Heitor Martins, who was Chair of the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at the time. It was Heitor who worked alongside Lilly librarian Maryellen Bresie to produce a catalogue of the exhibit, which provided detailed information on 102 works as well as a bibliography of other documents displayed. Titled Brazil from Discovery to Independence, it was the sixteenth volume in the Lilly Library Publications Series, which began with a series of unnumbered issues in October 1960. The catalogue also included several full-page illustrations, including a copy of an early printing of Brazil's national anthem, which was composed by Pedro I. Many copies of Brazil from Discovery to Independence were given as gifts; others sold for a modest sum in the library's lobby. The publication has been out-of-print for many years.

This year Indiana University is celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the Lilly Library and it seems an opportune time to reissue the Brazil catalogue. But it is also important to note that since 1972, the Brasiliana collection has grown considerably. For example, Boxer mss. II, which contains manuscripts and other documents on Brazil as well as East Asia, is in the final stages of inventory. The library has also acquired significant twentieth-century materials on Brazil that have attracted researchers worldwide to Bloomington. Perhaps the most consulted archive in this regard is that of Orson Welles, which contains materials on his trip to Brazil and the making of It's All True. My pleasurable task has been to work with Heitor and Lilly librarian and Latin American specialist Becky Cape on this supplemented edition of the catalogue. Our intention is to showcase additional Brasiliana, much of which was acquired after 1972, when the original catalogue appeared.

Digitization and the Internet have greatly facilitated the dissemination of information, and we have taken full advantage of Indiana University's hard-wired capabilities to produce and make available what we hope readers will consider a helpful archival guide and scholarly source. The first part of the publication is a digitized copy of the original 1972 catalogue. The second part, titled Brasiliana at The Lilly Library, provides a broader view of pre- and post-independence materials from the library's collections, with a special eye to more recent acquisitions focusing on U.S.-Brazil cultural relations in the twentieth century.

Individuals who are interested in applying for fellowships to work in the archives should consult the site: http://www.indiana.edu/~liblilly/fellowships.shtml.

Darlene J. Sadlier
Department of Spanish and Portuguese
Indiana University-Bloomington

October 2010

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