HISTORIC ARCHIVES

The Museum's Historic Archives comprises 50.000 iconography documents and manuscripts on Brazilian History, and the Library, with 57.000 volumes on arts, museology, heraldic, numismatic, genealogy and fashion. It offers also a Portuguese-Brazilian Reference Center, connected to the Historic Archives and created in 1998, in the ambit for the commemorations for the 500 years of the arrival of the Portuguese to Brazil. The Historic Archives can be consulted from Mondays thru Fridays, from 10am to 5pm. For more information, call (5521) 550-9268. The Museum also maintains a Permanent Archive about its own trajectory, with documents, photographs, printed matter, newspaper articles etc. The photos used to illustrate the item "Architecture and History" are part of this collection. It is also open for consultation.

Picture of Emperor D. Pedro II Photo by Francisco Pesce, 1888 The Historic Archives reunites important iconographic and manuscript documents referring to our history and divided into collections, such as the "Imperial Family Collection", with 1.445 documents, related to Emperors D. Pedro I and D. Pedro II and their respective families. It consists of engravings, photographic albums of the royalty and nobility of the time, views of Brazilian and foreign cities, and personal documents, such as the calligraphy exercise book of D. Pedro II; correspondences exchanged by members of the imperial family and others, and also homage received in the form of poetry, sonnets, hymns and melodies dedicated to members of the family.

Ântonio Carlos Gomes Il Guarany Front page of the Score The Historic Archives preserves an important collection of the Brazilian composer Antônio Carlos Gomes, that includes the first volume of the original score of one of his early compositions, the opera "Joana de Flandres". This collection, assembled through several donations, has 216 documents among drawings of scenarios, letters, photographs, original scores and librettos of compositions such as "Condor", "Morena" and "Colombo", important for the understanding of the work of Carlos Gomes, whose most successful composition "O Guarani" opened at the Scala of Milan theatre in 1870, and was played in several countries. The "Eusébio de Queirós" collection is formed by 350 documents, mostly letters exchanged between politicians and their families, mainly on the subject of repression of slavery, political and judicial matters. Magistrate and Brazilian politician, born in Angola in 1812, Eusébio de Queirós Coutinho Matoso da Câmara was appointed Minister of Justice from 1848 to 1852, and was the author of two important laws of the Empire: The Law 556, that created the Commercial Code, and the Decree 708, that established measures for the repression of the traffic of slaves from Africa.

The Salesian Mission in Mato Grosso, 1908 Girls from the Bororo tribe go to school Private documents, photographic albums, cartographic documents are part of the collection "Miguel Calmon Du Pin e Almeida". Engineer and Brazilian politician, he was the Minister of Transport and Public Works during the government of President Afonso Pena, from 1906 to 1909, and Minister of Agriculture of President Artur Bernardes, from 1922 to 1926. The photos document the principal works and denote the adoption of the ideals of progress and modernization of Brazil in the early 20th century, and the several Indian tribes encountered during the realization of these works.

Watercolors of Sophia Jobim to illustrate her lessons on clothing. Fashion is also a part of the Historic Archives. Who investigates on civilian and military clothing must consult the collections "Sophia Jobim Magno de Carvalho" and "Military Uniforms" Museologist and designer, Sophia Jobim gave lessons on Historic Costumes at the National School of Fine Arts. During her frequent trips around the world, she collected a large collection of typical garments and founded, in 1960, the first Museum of Historic Costumes and Antiquities in Latin America, at her home in Santa Teresa, Rio. All her collection was donated to the Museum after her death. The Historic Costumes are preserved at the Storage Department, the books in the Library, and the 1.124 documents, including recipes of regional dishes and photographic albums of events related to her activity, can be consulted in the Historic Archives. The collection of military uniforms comprises 836 iconography documents, of which 228 watercolors by José Wasth Rodrigues; Albums of watercolors of the 18th century, military uniforms of the colonial period and drawings copied from models of uniforms existing at the Historic and Colonial Archives in Lisbon. The documentary value of these works resides in their correspondence with the Brazilian military uniforms, from the colonial to the republican period, and so, resulting as an important source of research related to this subject.

Juan Gutierrez Documented the Revolt of the Armada (1893-1894) Circa 10.200 photographs, among which the early photographic processes, as the daguerreotype and ambrotype are part of the collection of the Historic Archives. Photos by Marc Ferrez and Augusto Malta and post cards of different periods. The "Juan Gutierrez Collection" is outstanding. A Spanish photographer, Gutierrez acted in Rio de Janeiro from 1880 up to 1890. He documented the Revolt of the Armada (1893-1894), showing the fortifications, soldiers and armaments, but did not register combat scenes. His lens captured also views taken from different quarters of the old city of Rio de Janeiro, reproducing its architecture and daily life. With the support of the Museum's Friends Association, a CD-Rom was launched in 1998 "The Rio de Janeiro of Gutierrez", containing 118 photos of this collection, and can be purchased at the Reception of the National Museum of History. Drawings, engravings and watercolors of important artists as Rugendas, Debret, Norfini and Reis Carvalho depicting Brazilian cities and landscapes along the 19th and 20th centuries are also preserved at the Historic Archives.

Nair de Teffé Said "Rian" (1886-1981) Caricature Another curious collection is formed by 26 caricatures by Rian, among which those of Presidents Juscelino Kubitschek, Eurico Gaspar Dutra, João Café Filho and Humberto de Alencar Castelo Branco. Her ironical drawings focused, mostly, political personalities and the high society. Rian's real name, Nair de Teffé, was already known as a caricaturist when, in 1913, she married the then President, Hermes da Fonseca. With works published in national and foreign magazines, such as the weekly Fon-Fon, Gazeta de Notícias and Le Rire, she often scandalized the Catete Palace, the presidential residency, with her excentric attitudes. This collection can be better known by consulting the Historic Archives.

The photos that illustrate the Library's collection are by Rômulo Fialdini and were taken from the book "Museu Histórico Nacional", edited by Bank.