More than 12,000 pieces, CDs and DVDs represent this popular Brazilian literary genre
Researchers and fans of Brazilian chapbooks have another option to get information about this popular genre of Brazilian culture online. Since February 2017, the US Library of Congress, through its office in Rio de Janeiro, has provided a digital collection on the subject – the Brazil Cordel Literature Web Archive. Visit the collection at: https://www.loc.gov/collections/brazil-cordel-literature-web-archive/about-this-collection/.
The Library of Congress Office in Rio de Janeiro and the Hispanic Division of the Library of Congress in Washington have been working together with the American Folklife Center (AFC) to make this one of the world’s largest chapbook collections. There are more than 12,000 pieces, among them the famous Sol Biderman collection, and some chapbooks dating from the 1930s.To capture the work of the repentistas (improvisational singers), the Office has also acquired CDs and DVDs, as well as other chapbook titles. Some of them are already available on the Office website: http://www.loc.gov/acq/ovop/rio/rio-cordel.html.
The Office is also the first institution in South America to preserve collections of websites, such as that from the Brazilian presidential election of 2010. For further information, go to: https://www.loc.gov/collections/brazilian-presidential-election-2010-web-archive/about-this-collection/.
About the Office of the US Library of Congress in Rio de Janeiro
The Office of the Library of Congress in Rio de Janeiro is one of six overseas offices administered by the Overseas Operations Division of the Library of Congress. Its collection includes publications and artwork from Brazil, Uruguay, Suriname, Guyana and French Guiana. The aim is to enrich the research collections of the Library of Congress with the very best bibliographic production from those countries.
The Office of the National Cataloging and Acquisition Program was opened in 1966 to supply the Library of Congress with Brazilian publications. The publications acquired include books, newspapers, leaflets, chapbooks, CDs, CD-ROMs, DVDs, maps, posters and musical scores. A lot of publications are bought but little more than half of the total purchased by the office comes from its relationships with about 500 institutions. In the last year 15.624 pieces were acquired through purchases and donations.
For further information on this Press Release, please contact the US Embassy Press Office in Brasília at BrasiliaEMBEUA@state.gov or on (+55 61) 3312 – 7367 / 7350 / 7364.
