By MARIETTA DANIELS

Research in Latin America

Miss Daniels is acting librarian_, Pan braries found their way into the national American Union. libraries or into university collections. During the present century government OR MORE THAN 100 years before Har­ agencies have built up large specialized col­ Fvard University and its libraries were lections to satisfy their individual needs. 'established, cultural institutions, univer­ In recent years private concerns and inter­ sities and libraries had flourished in the national organizations have begun to collect Spanish and Portuguese colonies of the materials of research in the technical and in- new world. Together with the early con­ - dustrial fields which have not generally been quistadores came the viceroys, bringing with the concern of the older scholarly libraries. them collections of legal treatises and the resources for research purposes priests with their libraries. It is not in Latin America today are rich indeed in strange, therefore, to discover in hundreds the fields of law, philosophy, literature and of libraries in Latin America today count­ the history of the Western Hemisphere. less volumes of incunabula as well as il­ Unfortunately those resources are still luminated manuscripts and thousands of largely unexplored because of the meager documents of historical importance written bibliographical control of many of even the by the early colonizers. richest coilections. A survey of the re­ The first library collections known to sources in Latin American libraries would have been set up in the new world were ec­ undoubtedly reveal an unimaginable wealth clesiastical and viceregal ones. As new uni­ of source material for the scholars of the versities appeared, libraries were established Americas. Since it would be impossible particularly in the field of law. Private within a few pages to discuss all research libraries were collected by the wealthy colo­ libraries in Latin America, this pap~r will nizers and treasures were brought from confine itself to a mere mention of a few Spain, Portugal, France and Italy. During of the outstanding libraries important for the eighteenth century many academies and research purposes. They may be divided other cultural institutions were established into the following general type and will be to conform to the same cultural develop­ discussed in that order: national libraries ment as in the mother countries, and libra­ and , university, private and insti-_ ries were formed for the use of their mem­ tutional, governmental and intergovNn­ bers. mentallibraries. A final word will be said Within a few years-sometimes no about the from the United States longer than months---=after their independ­ who have assisted in the development of ence was gained, many of the ~atin Amer­ libraries in Latin America. ican republics determined to establish na­ tional libraries to preserve the documents National Libraries and books relating to their history and cul­ Despite the disastrous fire of 1943 which ture. Many of the early ecclesiastical li- bid fair to destroy a magnificent collection

OCTOBER_, 1949 361 of books and manuscripts, the National Li­ ing more than a million printed books and brary' of Peru, .under the guidance of Jorge almost as many manuscripts. Its complete Basadre, scholar, historian and , resources are still unknown despite efforts has regained its position as one of the out­ during recent' years to catalog the collec­ standing libraries of the world in the field tion. The library had its beginnings as the of the historical research, early geography royal of King John VI of and travel in the new world as well as one Portugal. Since the time of the independ­ of the best organized libraries in Latin ence of Brazil, many important collectio s America. Thirty days after Peru pro­ have been added including special ones on claimed its independence in I 82 I, the great natural science, architecture, drawings and liberator Jose de San Martin decreed the prints, German scientific treatises, Jesuits in establishment of a and Paraguay, maps, Portuguese classics, etc. contributed generously from his private All Brazilian books are required by law to collection to the extent that the new library be deposited in the National Library. was inaugurated in September of the fol­ The outstanding collection of the Na­ lowing year with I I,256 volumes. At the tional Library of Chile, located in Santiago, present time the collection has reached a is the "Biblioteca Americana" of more than figure of more than I 6o,ooo volumes of 30,000 volumes, collected by the renowned which a large portion consists of priceless bibliographer of the Americas, Jose Toribio documents and rare volumes of the early Medina. Included in the collection are the history of the Americas: Among the most original manuscripts from which Medina valuable collections secured by the National reproduced his 500 volume compilation of Library of Peru in recent years is the pri­ documents relating to the complete history vate library of a former president of Ar­ of Chile. Not only is the collection rich gentina, General Agustin P. Justo who in historical materials pertaining to Latin had maintained agents throughout the America, but to the United States as well. world to locate for him important rare The collection known as the National Li­ books in the fields of geography and travel, brary of Mexico, now a part of the U ni­ especially of South America. versidad Aut6noma of Mexico, is extremely After the conflagration in I943 which rich in its collection of documents, manu­ destroyed thousands of documents, books scripts and early books concerning Mexico, and pamphlets of great importance, move­ Central America and the ·spanish South­ ments to assist in rebuilding the library west of the United States. In recent years were organized in various countries of a new library, called the Library of Mexico, America and Europe, and large national has been established to serve the purpose of collections were presented to the National a national library. Library. A representation from the U.S., These are but a few of the national li­ consisting of Dr. Luther H . Evans, Ralph braries of the Latin American nations whose M unn and Francisco Aguilera, attended research value is high, especially for the the formal presentation of the gift of several history and development of each country. thousand volumes from the "people of the In reviewing the research facilities of the U.S." Latin Ame.rican nations it is necessary to The largest and most diversified national mention the important role played by the library in Latin America is that of Brazil, archives in the preservation of historical located in Rio de Janeiro and now compris- documents. Two of the richest and best

362 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES organized archival collections are the N a­ various schools. The libraries of the U ni­ tiona! Archives of Guatemala and Cuba. versity of Havana consist of the well organ­ The care and treatment of manuscripts and ized general library and those of law, en­ rare books is so important in most archives, gineering and architecture, agronomy, medi­ as well as in the national and university cine and sciences. libraries in Latin America, that the study The University of Chile maintains six of paleography is a required course in most faculty libraries in addition to the Central library schools. Library, where a union catalog of the hold­ The National Museum of Archaeology, ings of all the uinversity libraries is being History and Ethnography, located in compiled. Mexico City, possesses an important library In December 1948, fire almost complete­ of documents and manuscripts relating to ly destroyed the School of Medicine of the to the Inquisition, the colonization and in­ University of Chile and burned a large por­ dependence of Mexico, and the colonization tion of the most used collection of its li­ of Texas and southwestern United States. brary. However, through the efforts of sympathetic persons in all the Americas, University Libraries both the library and the laboratory equip­ The Central Library of the University of ment of the school and its affiliated insti­ San Marcos, founded in Lima in the middle tutes are being rehabilitated. years of the sixteenth century, remains to­ There is a tendency among Latin Ameri­ day, together with the libraries of the can universities today to withdraw their Schools of Law, Medicine and Economics, location from the center of the city and to one of the best research collections in Latin build new "university cities" on the out­ American universities. Of particular im­ skirts. Among the universities which have portance is the legal collection in the Li­ either begun their new buildings or are in brary of the School of Law. the planning stages are Panama, San Mar­ Among the important university libraries cos, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia and the of Latin America one finds the libraries of Central University of Quito. Both the the University of Buenos Aires, totaling National University of Panama. and the almost a million volumes of books and pe­ Central University of Quito have con­ riodicals. There are six libraries in the structed a new libr·ary as one of the first schools of law and social sciences, philos­ buildings in their new university cities. ophy and medical sciences, exact, physical Another tendency in university library and natural sciences, economics, and agron­ administration in Latin America is toward omy and veterinary sciences. In order to a centralization of library services, at least serve as a bioliographical center for the insofar as the maintenance of a union cata­ university and to maintain a union catalog log of the university's library resources is of all its collections, the Instituto Biblio­ concerned. Librarians from the United tecol6gico was established a few years ago. States have been asked to assist or to ad­ It has a highly selected collection of refer­ vise in the unification of national university ence tools and works in _library science. libraries in Mexico, Chile, Panama and the _ The National Autonomous University of University of San Marcos in Peru. The Mexico, in addition to the collection men­ rectors as well as the librarians of many uni­ tioned above as the National Library of versities are discussing the advisability of Mexico, has more than 20 libraries in its maintaining a central or general library for

OCTOBER~ 1949 363 the university, to take the place of or to have maintained large supplement the existing libraries in the particularly for the use of their members, various colleges. Many of the universities but frequently open to o~tside investigators are setting up library schools or courses to at their request. The Academy of Sciences train not only librarians for their own in­ located in Havana is such an institution. stitutions but for service in other libraries The Brazilian Historical and Geographi­ of the nation as well. cal Institute of Rio possesses almost IOO,ooo volumes in the fields of geography, history Private and Institutional Libraries and politics. Several important private col­ The tradition of private collections lections have been presented to the institute placed at the disposal of reputable investi­ in the past few years. Another Brazilian gators still persists today in the Latin library recently organized but of consider­ American nations. . One of the most out­ able interest to the students of colonial his­ standing and famous of such collections is tory is the Imperial Museum located in the the well organized library of Dr. Jacinto former residence of Emperor Peter II of Jij6n y Caamafio, of Quito, who has spent Portugal. Although rich in Brazilian his­ a large portion of his life collecting Ameri­ tory in general, it is particularly important cana and Ecuatoriana for his library, and for its material on the Portuguese empire. art and archaeological treasures for his mu­ Of recent origin in Latin America is the seum. of private concerns or of In Cuba one of the private libraries of professional and industrial workers. The great bibliographical importance to the his­ Argentine Industrial Union in Buenos Aires tory of Cuba is that of the lawyer and maintains a library of more than 15,000 scholar, Dr. Antonio M. Eligio de · la volumes devoted to industrial processes, Puente. The of the So­ economics, industry, and industrial and la­ ciedad Econ6mica de Amigos del Pais, of bor law. For the use of its constituents it which Dr. Eligo de la Puente is president, keeps a file of the laws, decrees and resolu­ is extremely rich in documents and books as tions of the federal and state governments well as newspapers relating to the history concerning industrial development. of Cuba and the other island possessions of The librarians of 7 5 technical and scien­ Spain. During the nineteenth and twen­ tific institutions in Argentina formed them­ tieth centuries Qlis library has been the re­ selves some time ago into the "Comite cipient of many large private collections of Argentino de Bibliotecarios de Instituciones importance. Cientificas y Tecnicas" for the further de­ One of the most valuable of the private velopment of specialized research libraries museums and libraries in South America is in the country. the M useo Prado in Lima, belonging to the Prado family which has given Peru two of Governmental Libraries its presidents, Mariano Ignacio Prado of In addition to the National Libraries of the nineteenth century, and his son the re­ the Latin American nations, many of the cent president Manuel Prado y U garteche. ministerial librari~s, congressional libraries The library is · especially rich in the history, and other state agencies possess important literature and social problems of Peru. collections of old and new materials for Many of the academies ·of history, lan­ research. The library of the National Con­ guage, law, literature, medicine and sciences gress in Santiago, Chile, not only preserves

364 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES all legal material necessary for the daily de­ International lnstituto for the Protection liberations of congress, but also publishes of Childhood, established in Montevideo in the bulletin of the sessions of congress and 1927. Its 25,000-volume collection covers the bulletin of laws and decrees of the gov­ the fields of child welfare and social science ernment. In Uruguay it is the library of in general. The institute publishes a bib­ the Legislative Branch of the government liography concerning child welfare. which performs the same functions and pub­ Two inter-American organizations affil­ lishes an index to periodical and newspaper iated with the Pan American Union in articles of importance. Washington are the Inter-American Insti­ The Brazilian Institute of Geography tute of Agricultural Sciences in Turrialba, and Statistics in Rio maintains an excellent Costa Rica, and the Pan American Institute library in its field and issues many geo­ of History and Geography in Mexico. The graphical and statistical publications. Also library of the former institute provides in Brazil one finds an outstanding minis­ books and periodical material for research terial library, the 30,000-volume collection in the field of agricultural economy and of the Minister of Labor. experimentation, and shows signs of becom­ In Haiti a national library plan is cur­ ing the leading agricultural library in Latin rently being drawn up to provide for the America. The latter Institute has an out­ formation of large specialized libraries in standing collection of 50,000 historical and th.e various ministries to serve not only geographical books, documents and manu­ the personnel of the ministries but the gen­ scripts relating to the New World. eral public as well. This plan will result in a smaller national library and therefore Inter-American Library Cooperation avoid needless duplication of specialized col­ Many treasures of Latin American li- lections. Jlraries have found their diverse ways into Among the principal libraries in Latin the libraries of the United States. One America concerning themselves with ma­ of the richest of these treasures was the terial for economic research are the federal library of the ·former Mexican historian banks of the various countries, such as those Garcia lcazbalceta, which now forms a part of the Centni.l Bank of the Argentine Repub­ of the collection of the University of Texas. lic, the Central Bank of Chile, the Bank of At the same time innumerable librarians Guatemala and the National Savings Bank from Latin America have come to the of Argentina. The latter publishes a United States to study, visit and work in mimeographed bulletin indexing and ab­ specific libraries so that the knowledge and stracting important books and periodicals in experience gained here may be applied in the field. All these libraries contain cur­ their own countries for the development rent literature in economics, banking, sta­ and improvement of their libraries. tistics, mathematic and monetary problems, Among the institutions which have been as well as the federal banking laws of other instrumental in providing for the move­ nations. ment of librarians between the Americas have been the American Library Associa­ Intergovernmental I nstitufions tion, the Medical Libraries Association, the One of the oldest and most complete li­ Department of State, the Pan American brary collections of international- govern­ Union, the Institute for International Edu­ mental institutions is that of the American cation, the Carnegie Corporation of New

OCTOBER~ 1949 365 York, the Rockefeller Foundation and the Puerto Rico; Arthur Ma~Anally who ad­ . vised the University of San M~rcos in The list of librarians from the United Peru; Leslie Dunlap who was loaned States who have acted as consultants in the briefly to the University of Mexico; Ed­ reorganization of libraries, or professors in ward Heiliger who served as consultant and library schools, or directors of libraries and professor in the University of Chile; Arthur who have thereby contributed to the de­ Gropp who taught in U ru­ velopment of libraries in Latin America guay and his wife Dorothy who pioneered is by now an impressive one. Among those the library field in Brazil; and Ralph Shaw, who come immediately to mind are: Anita who recently surveyed scientific libraries in Ker J ohinson and Anne Gard who assisted Central America and Mexico. This list in the National Library of Venezuela; lone does not include the many representatives of Kidder Maxwell, also of the National Li­ the Library of Congress who have -yisited brary of Venezuela and the Escuela de An­ the libraries of Latin America to improve tropologia in Mexico (and translator of interlibrary and inter-American relations. the L. C. List of subject headings into It does not include such outstanding direc­ Spanish); Dorothy Reeder of the National tors and personnel of the American libraries Library in Colombia; R. H. Gjelsness, in Latin America as Dr. Harry M. Lyden­ Sarita Robinson, Janeiro Brooks and Mrs. berg, Dr. Richard Bentley, and Bertha Clara N. de Villa, professors of library Harris, all of the Li­ science in Colombia; Raymond Kilgour, brary in Mexico City. The influence of Margaret Bates, Josephine Fabilli and the American libraries in Mexico, Managua Elizabeth Sherier, professors of library sci­ and Montevideo, and the libraries of the ence in Peru; Dorcas W. Reid (now Mrs. American cultural institutes on library John M. Connor) teacher of library science development in those countries, cannot be in Ecuador, together with the author who• overestimated nor effectively measured. also was engaged in library work in Panama Comprehensive and authoritative studies and Cuba; Gaston LittOI} and Virginia of the library resources of the other Ameri­ Hallam at the University of Panama: Har­ cas are urgently needed, not only for the vie Branscomb, Gaston Litton and William benefit of research workers who may wish Jackson who surveyed and advised the N a­ to use those resources, but also for a logical tional Library of Brazil, and Kathleen Clif­ planned prograrryof library development in ford who continued their work; Francis B. the Latin American nations. The present Thorne, who taught in northern Brazil; study can onlY- indicate the vastness of the Rodolfo Rivera, who surveyed libraries in possibilities of such a survey.

366 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES