Brazil’s National Museum launches first printed catalog of rare works
Brazil’s National Museum launched this week the first printed catalog of its collection of rare works. Although about 85% of the museum's 20,000 items were destroyed by a major fire occurred in September 2018, institution's director Alexander Kellner told Agência Brasil the rare works had been safely removed from the museum prior to the fire that consumed the Imperial Palace, located in Quinta da Boa Vista Municipal Park, in Rio de Janeiro.
"Fortunately, due to our policy of relocating collections from the São Cristóvão Palace, we were able to move our library," said the director, adding that other collections were also safely stored off-site.
The Rare Works Catalog of the National Museum can be downloaded for free at https://pantheon.ufrj.br since its release on April 13, in addition to the printed version.
Rarities
According to Leandra Pereira de Oliveira, the head of the National Museum Central Library, the catalog features 1,408 rare works, including the coveted incunabulum, Historia Naturale, written by Pliny (The Old Man) in 1481. They are publications from the early days of the press in the country and was once owned by Empress Leopoldina, the wife of Dom Pedro I, who declared Brazil's independence from Portugal in 1822 and reigned until 1831.
For rare books specialist Ana Virginia Pinheiro, another standout work from the catalog is Arte de grammatica da lingoa mais usada na Costa do Brasil by José Anchieta. This publication, first printed in Portugal in 1595, is the earliest known work on the grammar of the Tupi language. The original copy contains two preliminary pages and 59 pages of text. Only eight copies are known in the world, two of which are held in Brazil, while the other six are housed in institutions in Portugal, England, Spain, and Italy. “Discovering a copy in the National Museum was a great surprise," Pinheiro said.
The National Museum's library boasts approximately 506,000 volumes, the majority of which were acquired through institutional barter. This practice dates back to 1876 when the journal National Museum’s Archives was first created, and institutional exchanges were established with museum libraries worldwide. "Today, we continue to have partnerships with over 140 institutions across 41 countries," Oliveira noted.
Projects
The head of the library also mentioned two ongoing projects, one of which involves creating a facsimile of the first item ever donated to the National Museum's collection—a manuscript gifted by Baron Wilhelm Ludwig von Eschwege. The geologist was part of the entourage of Empress Leopoldina— wife of Dom Pedro I, who proclaimed the independence of Brazil from the kingdom of Portugal in 1822 and ruled the country until 1831. Von Eschwege was commissioned by the Portuguese crown to explore Brazil's mineral resources.
“The manuscript was donated to the National Museum by von Eschwege, which has never been published, that is: if it is lost, it is lost. My intention is to produce a facsimile of this work," Oliveira explained.
Although the museum is scheduled to fully reopen in 2026, director Alexander Kellner has announced plans to open up the meteorite room, entrance hall, and the staircase, which is covered by a skylight, for public visitation in June 2024.
