“Correspondence from members in charge of examining the registries” (July 3rd, 1782 to December 8th, 1818)
Reference code: PT/ACL/ACL/C/014-2/00072
The Historical Archive of the Academy of Sciences of Lisbon highlights, for the month of November, what is now known as the Secretaria Book (reference number 72B), which compiles the correspondence of the members responsible for examining the kingdom’s registries, exchanged between 3 July 1782 and 8 December 1818. This correspondence bears witness to one of the first and most significant initiatives of the Academy of Sciences in the field of history: the systematic survey of the country’s archives and libraries with the aim of cataloguing, transcribing and preserving unpublished manuscript documentation. This mission, which was part of the valorisation of the historical past and Enlightenment rationalism, counted on the direct commitment of José Correia da Serra (1751-1823), one of the founders of the Academy, and mobilised a group of scholars specialising in diplomatics and palaeography, such as João Pedro Ribeiro (1758-1839), Joaquim José Ferreira Gordo (1758-1838), Frei Joaquim de Santo Agostinho, abbot of Lustosa (1767-1845), and Frei Joaquim de Santa Rosa de Viterbo (1744-1822), among others. The letters collected in this volume therefore reflect a pioneering effort to safeguard the country’s documentary heritage, which would later support other editorial and educational projects of the Academy, including the creation of the diplomatics course at the University of Coimbra.
Historical Archive of the Academy of Sciences of Lisbon
