CRITERIA EMPLOYED

The International Bibliography of the Discoveries and Overseas Encounters (B.D.), by Alfredo Pinheiro Marques, is a computerized bibliography, in Portuguese and English, regularly updated and permanently accessible.

 It may be consulted from within Portugal or from abroad, via Internet.

THE GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE B.D.

The Bibliography of the Discoveries covers texts published on the subject in Portugal and abroad, in the form of both Studies and Printed Sources, related to Portuguese and European Overseas Expansion (from the thirteenth- to the eighteenth-century) and the History of the Geographical Discoveries in general and their Technical and Scientific Achievements in particular. It is mainly concerned with the Portuguese Discoveries and the Expansion of Portugal Overseas, and is complemented by a bibliography of texts referring to similar issues at the general level, in relation to Europe and to the world. The B.D. seeks, in short, to provide a thorough inventory of works published on the Portuguese Discoveries and Expansion, accompanied by a basic bibliography of similar themes relating to the world at large.

 This then has been our purpose here: to furnish Portuguese and non-Portuguese scholars with an overview of what has been published on the Portuguese Discoveries and Overseas Expansion, rather than on the European Discoveries and Overseas Expansion as a whole. For this reason, the general sections do not pretend to be in any way as complete as those dealing with Portugal; they are intended only as a parallel and secondary accompaniment to questions relating to Portuguese concerns.

SOME CONSIDERATIONS ON THE B.D.

The need for such a tool has long been evident and has been remarked on by scholars. That is why in 1989 we decided to undertake this task in Portuguese historiography. Whilst we are prepared to be criticized for lack of scholarship or thoroughness, we would point out that, just as with the Alfredo Pinheiro Marques, Guia de História dos Descobrimentos e Expansão Portuguesa. Estudos (Lisbon: National Library, 1988), we have tried to produce -- and, one trusts, succeeded in producing -- a more complete bibliography than any previously published in this field in Portugal or abroad.

 In this way a number of texts which are approaching obsolescence or whose usefulness is debatable have not been excluded. Our aim here, in contrast to the Guia, has not been to make critical judgements but rather to include all relevant works, even those wich, from a scientifical point of view, we consider to be inadequate or of little importance. The public will judge for itself.

 As for more recent works, we hope not to have forgotten any of the truly useful and important. However, there will obviously be cases where we may have been omiss. Where this is so, we can only apologize for our oversight, and immediately issue a request that such omissions be communicated to us, along with any other criticisms and suggestions, so that we can improve the Bibliography in the future (be it in relation to the information it contains, or even to its structure and operation).

 In sum, this is an enterprise that seeks to be thorough without necessarily being exhaustive. Within the publications -- monographs and articles from journals or collected papers -- listed for each theme and section, we have aimed to present a varied, and often enough opposed, range of points of views.

 What do we mean by an 'exhaustive' work? A survey which would include everything and lack nothing -- something obviously impossible (especially in these scientific fields) and that could never be attempted, demanded or achieved.

 What do we mean by a 'complete' work? A survey which will include everything that is important and lack nothing of what is really significant or striking in the History of the Discoveries (considering its size or quality).

 Some sections are, as yet, still far from containing all the entries which will be included. Here as everywhere else, this is an 'open-ended' work. The gaps which may exist will, we hope, be filled during this first decisive phase, with help from the criticism and suggestions we eagerly await.

 The bibliographical references are given in a uniform but simplified manner (so that they can be easily consulted by the public), and usually with as much detail as is absolutely necessary for the identification of each item (author, title, place of publication, date). In most cases more complete information is given (publisher, etc.), although there are instances where this is not yet the case, Our intention is to standardize this aspect in the future, providing further information on those items wich are still reduced to their essential details or wich may even be as yet incompletely listed. References such as ISBN or ISSN numbers are not given since they do not seem to be essential for a bibliographical guide of this sort.

 The sort of information which we would be most grateful to receive from authors and readers relates to 1) typographic errors; 2) the inclusion of further items; 3) the correction of incorrect or unsatisfactory thematizations (i.e., items which are located in the inappropriate section or sections); and 4) doubling of titles.

We trust that those who use and criticize the B.D. in good faith will do us the justice of agreeing that some of these problems or mistakes, even where they exist, are not of any major importance when considered in relation to the scale of what we have constructed. However, if dissatisfactions are communicated to us rapidly and in detail, they will be rapidly resolved, and will cease to mar future versions of the Bibliography.

 By its very nature the B.D. can never be finished. At every moment, week by week, day by day, year after year, new entries will appear to enrich it. However, every new title (or group of titles) to be added will involve a little time to be 1) introduced, 2) revised, 3) checked, 4) thematized, and 5) integrated. The period of time which elapses between the moment the information concerning a title (or group of titles) is communicated or inventoried and the moment it finds its way into the general pool and becomes available to the public is likely to vary considerably, and users who send us information should not be surprised by any such delay. Due to these delays in introducing, checking, thematizing the titles, the B.D. version sent to the public will never be up to date (that is, including the titles published in the current and the past year). It may happen that occasionally some of these last years' titles are already included, but systematic reference to these titles will only be achieved some years later.

UNDERLYING CRITERIA OF THE B.D.

Unfortunately, bibliographies are still often compiled under the form of simple, otherwise unstructured alphabetical lists, or little more than that, with non-existent or extremely vague and elementary thematic structures, which mix fish and fowl without any regard for geographical, chronological or any other form of organization. This sort of list is of little use as a practical working instrument.

 Of course classification is difficult and arduous (and always unrewarding...), but it has to be done. It cannot be repeated often enough: the essential aspect of any taxonomic system is not its size but above all its structure, the need to avoid the sort of confusions that we find in the Chinese zoological classification attributed to Jorge Luís Borges by Michel Foucault in the preface to Les Mots et les Choses.

 Decisions have to be made; one must put one's head on the block and make the choices which will reflect and reveal not only what is being classified but who is making the classification. Ours is, in this way, a historian's bibliography and presupposes a historian's underlying conceptual decisions. The simple organization and periodization of the bibliographic material is already in itself a complete theoretical programme and a critical reading of the issues.

 What we have tried to produce here is, in effect, a bibliography organized by themes. Leaving aside the Guia de História dos Descobrimentos, there is no point in referring to other similar or earlier bibliographies as models, since, in truth, they don't exist. The data-bases which are available on the major international networks are not specifically geared to this field of inquiry. As for bibliographies still in book form, one of them relating to the Portuguese scene, Z. Consiglieri Cardoso's Catálogo Bibliographico das Publicações Relativas aos Descobrimentos Portugueses is a simple alphabetical listing, without any organization or thematic presentation. Furthermore, it is quite out of date, including only works published before 1912. The other, dealing with the international field, the Travaux pour l'Histoire des Grands Voyages et Grandes Découvertes. Bibliographie (1912-1931) (edited by Eugéne Déprez), although it is organized by themes (albeit in a rudimentary and unsatisfactory way), is also quite out-of-date and has a number of deficiencies, above all in relation to Portuguese questions. These apart, all we have to go by are sections of 'Bibliography' in a number of major works, some of which have indeed much to recommend them.

 Our model for the Bibliography of the Discoveries has thus been the above-mentioned Guia de História dos Descobrimentos... by Alfredo Pinheiro Marques. We have used a very similar thematic structure (albeit with some changes and refinements), whilst the quantity of information is, naturally, considerably greater (and, above all, capable of being continually expanded).

 Aside from the slow and arduous task carried out during the years, of collecting and analysing the bibliographic material, our major effort (and maybe the only virtue of this work) has been directed at the creation and progressive improvement of the structure of the file. As we became aware of the sheer size and diversity of the material available, we progressively refined this structure, in this way developing the underlying conceptual choices referred to above. Our dear teacher and friend Professor Luís de Albuquerque helped us to improve this thematic structure (during the years 1988-1989).

 We have received support in recognition of our effort -- compliments, tributes, honourable collaborations -- justly acknowledging the importance and quality of the project we have undertaken and successfully carried out. We will mention here only two of those honourable collaborations and tributes, from abroad and from Portugal. In 1992, Professor Charles Ralph Boxer, the great scholar devoted to the History of Portuguese Overseas Expansion, gave us the honour of writing a preface for this database (before it was brought to the public, on 25th November 1992, at the Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia da Universidade de Coimbra, with the distinguished presence of H.E. the President of the Portuguese Republic). We obviously felt extremely honoured with this preface written by the great Historian that we so much admire, a text that will forever serve as the opening words to the B.D.. At the beginning of 1994, we were contacted by the Portuguese Navy, through its Comissão Cultural and its Biblioteca Central de Marinha (by its Director, Adm. Vítor Crespo), asking us not only for direct access to our database but also for the possibility of using our indexing criteria and thematic structure (slightly adapted) for their own computerized bibliography (the bibliography of the titles that exist in its Central Library, in Lisbon, at the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos), under the supervision of the coordinator of the B.D.. Needless to say, we gladly agreed to this -- since the Portuguese Navy deserves all our respect as heir to the Portuguese tradition at Sea.

In short, we created a taxonomic system for the Discoveries and Overseas Expansion through their bibliography. We expressed our hope that the system is not altogether bad: that is to say that it will, to some extent, prove workable and useful -- this being the most one can hope of any system in its lifetime. We are happy that our purpose was achieved. Some of our underlying conceptual choices, some of the thematic, geographical and chronological criteria we introduced and/or used, have become generally accepted and turned out to be of common use in the historiography of the Portuguese Discoveries and Overseas Expansion.

INTRODUCTION TO THE STRUCTURE OF THE B.D.

The Bibliography of the Discoveries may be accessed at various levels, according to the user's requirements. The first option is between E. STUDIES (ESTUDOS) and F. SOURCES (FONTES). See the special information about SOURCES on the next page. STUDIES is made up of four parts, organized hierarchically from the general to the particular: I. European Expansion and Overseas Encounters / Expansão Europeia e Encontros Ultramarinos; II. Portuguese Expansion and Overseas Encounters / Expansão Portuguesa e Encontros Ultramarinos; III. Portuguese Geographical Discoveries / Descobrimentos Geográficos Portugueses; IV. Technical and Scientific Achievements in the Portuguese Discoveries / Técnicas e Práticas Científicas nos Descobrimentos Portugueses.

 These parts include and develop into each other in a hierarchical structure of information. Within each part there are sections, sub-sections, etc., also organized from the general to the particular, by the same token hierarchically including and developing into each other. Each one of the parts is designed to function as a whole, of which the subsequent part is a more specialized section. We also provide cross-references (which do not pretend to exhaust the various forms of relating one rubric to the other which users might -- and should -- develop for themselves). The list of contents of the various levels operates as a guide to the distribution of the various sections, from the general to the particular. The overall criteria of organization employed are as follows: 1st, geographical; 2nd, chronological; 3rd, thematic; and only within each subsection or sub-subsection, etc., alphabetical.

 As we have already pointed out, the part relating to European Expansion does not pretend to be as complete as the sections on Portugal in terms of the quantity of information provided, but its structure is quite similar (in order to permit easier and more rapid cross-consultation). The value and usefulness of this section aims to be no more than secondary and general, permitting a comparison with the information provided on the Portuguese Discoveries and Expansion. On the other hand, works dealing with the Portuguese scene are not included in the general European sections, but only in their own, Portuguese, sections. However there are cross-references broadly linking the Portuguese and general sections.

 We insist: the B.D. is an analytical bibliography, based on previously determined scholarly historiographical options (for which the creator of the project is responsible), and the way it is used is hence preconditioned by the way it is structured and the conceptual bases that inform that structure.

 It now becomes necessary to call attention to the following: as any historian will easily notice, when we use the expression Printed Sources in this text (in technical terms familiar to historians) we mean coeval documents and writings (either in manuscript or printed form) from the 15th-18th centuries, but merely those that have been printed recently, in the Contemporary Period (19th-20th centuries), in the shape of diplomatic editions (or, sometimes, maybe not so diplomatic). In effect, what we shall refer to here will be those contemporary editions (when in fact they do exist, and only then) and not any ancient editions, when they eventually existed (as printed works of the 15-18th centuries ). In other words: this means that the B.D. will not concern itself with Ancient Book. The printed works from the 15th-18th centuries (such as the manuscript ones of the same period) will only be included in this Bibliography when and if they are eventually published in contemporary times.

 Therefore, the chronological scope of the bibliographical items included here will restrict itself merely to the works published in the 19th and 20th centuries. Naturally -- since it is up to us to follow a criterium of an historian and not of a librarian -- we shall then conveniently make a distinction between Studies and Sources (despite the obvious difficulties that always arise from such an attempt... but we will face and overcome these difficulties, using an historian's criteria).

Nevertheless, in regard to the Sources, it is essential now to leave here an important notice.

 It should be noted that in the first phase of this project we presented our survey of the existing bibliography only at the level of Studies (surveys and research); we did not include any references to Sources (collections of printed documents or of critical editions of narrative sources). Thus, for some time, works of the latter sort, such as the Descobrimentos Portugueses by Silva Marques, the Monumenta Henricina, the Documenta Indica, the Documentação para a História das Missões do Padroado Português...etc., could not be found here. However, we made it clear that these would be added later, thus completing the double structure of the B.D..

 Again we state that the present work has developed out and maintains many of the characteristics of Alfredo Pinheiro Marques' Guia de História dos Descobrimentos e Expansão Portuguesa. Estudos (Lisbon: National Library, 1988), prefaced by Vitorino Magalhães Godinho. This latter work was produced and dedicated to the memory of the Portuguese historian Jaime Cortesão, on the occasion of the centenary of his birth (1984) -- though it was released to the public only in 1987-1988. That book was deliberately restricted to Studies, and excluded Printed Sources. The parallel research work on the survey of Sources should have been presented at the time by a certain collaborator of Professor Vitorino Magalhães Godinho, commited to that task. Nevertheless, since that collaborator failed, in 1988 only the autonomous bibliography on Studies came out. Meanwhile, after all the years already gone by -- eleven years (from 1984 to 1995) -- the bibliography of Printed Sources is still non-existent. Under these circumstances, and since in the meantime there was a public controversy on these matters, in which the one who had not produced anything allowed himself to try to criticize the one who had (such a typical attitude...), the author of these lines, who is responsible for the now published Bibliography of the Discoveries, brought out to the scientific community a public challenge in 1990 inviting the laggard to finally produce that which he was supposed to, and to which he had pledged himself. On the same occasion, the author of these lines said he would give a few more years (still) to bring it forth -- if others did not, then he himself would produce it first.

 Thus, the part of the B.D. concerned with Sources was not immediately presented. But it was clearly stated that sooner or later we would be creating it ourselves, at the end of the time we gave others for that purpose. If nothing was done by the people who had obligations on that matter -- after so many years (when their incapability was absolutely evident) -- we ourselves would be making the part of the B.D. concerned with Sources available to the public (since we prepared it during these last few years).

CONSULTING THE B.D.

It is important that it is clearly understood that the B.D., like the Guia de História dos Descobrimentos..., is above all a catalogue of what has been published and not a guide to what is useful. In general, what is listed under each rubric is what has been published specifically on that topic (monographs and individual articles), but not other, more general, works which might be useful in relation to it. In other words, when dealing with a particular question, we do not include in its specific sub-section all the works which, being more general, contain elements which might be of interest for that particular topic. Such more general works will be found in their own, general, sections, which should be consulted first.

 However, some exceptions have been made in the case of those general works which contain parts or chapters which have distinguished themselves as the most important studies conducted on the topic in question. But these are really exceptional cases -- motivated by the special nature of the texts in question -- for, as a rule, each work is listed only in its proper place: general works in the more general sections; specialized works in their more specialized subsections. Obviously, the same general work may be included in more than one section where appropriate.

 The exceptions referred to above are indeed few, but it is clear that, besides being cited together in the more general sections, we have also included in the relevant specialized subsections such particularly remarkable works as, for example, Fernand Braudel's Civilisation Matérielle, Économie et Capitalisme, Jaime Cortesão's Os Descobrimentos Portugueses, Damião Peres' História dos Descobrimentos Portugueses, Vitorino Magalhães Godinho's Os Descobrimentos e a Economia Mundial and Luís de Albuquerque's Introdução à História dos Descobrimentos. Equally well we have referred article by article to collected or selected essays (such as Duarte Leite's História dos Descobrimentos or Admiral Gago Coutinho's Náutica dos Descobrimentos), conference proceedings (such as the Actas do Congresso Internacional de História dos Descobrimentos of 1961) and general, joint-authored works (such as the História Geral da Civilização Brasileira, edited by Sérgio Buarque de Holanda or the História da Colonização Portuguesa do Brasil, edited by Carlos Malheiro Dias).

 In some cases, we have been obliged by the very periodization of the texts concerned to employ traditional criteria of organization. Here, let us say, we sought to reach a compromise between tradition and some of the new criteria we brought.

 There are a small number of abbreviations which are explained in a table to be found in this manual.

 As to the criteria that regulates references, we shall now say a few words. We congratulate ourselves with the fact that a norm is finally being implemented in Portugal that follows very closely the general criteria used abroad (which lead to standardization) mainly in the Anglo-Saxon sphere. However, as we all know, in the international scene, at least at the moment, there still does not exist an absolute identity or a strict normativity that must forcibly be applied to quotation criteria. And, in effect, they vary in some degree from country to country and even from one scientific field to another.

 Here, we chose to follow the Portuguese norm as much as possible, although we did not do it in every single case because of still preferring to keep to the old methods, at least for the time being, especially when it seemed to us that this would be the best way of avoiding misunderstandings or ambiguities and of offering more precise and accurate information to the user. Let's say that the basic principle was to really try to simplify and make it homogenous, except when such an attitude might (in our opinion) mislead the reader even to a greater degree. In these cases we preferred to maintain the oldest quotation norms, more casuistic and less standardized, since it seemed to us that the excess of information (and of work on our part!) would mean greater convenience for the user and less chances of him/her getting it wrong. An example of this was the fact that we tried to maintain, case by case, the vol. or nr. indications, or the disparity between Roman and Arabic numerals, according to what the different periodicals use.

 For the time being, we also did not follow the Portuguese norm in a few other minor aspects -- such as that of using : where it does not exist, as a way of separating the subtitle from the main title of a work -- because it seemed to us to be quite arguable. Nevertheless, in the majority of cases, especially in the most important and basic aspects, we followed its rules.

 In general, we kept to criteria that seemed most obvious and universal to us, trying to find internationally common denominators (from the existing variety).

 We tried to follow a criterium based on reasonableness (something that always appears as the most important and operative strategy, as far as one can be sure of anything). One aspect is surely beyond doubt (and most essential): the criteria that we followed, despite any small eventual discrepancies connected with an attempt to keep to a norm, will be easy to understand and used intuitively by people of any nationality and cultural traditions.

 We regret that, due to the way in which the information enters the network -- so that it is easy for any hardware or software equipment to get hold of it -- sometimes it will not be possible for the user to have access to the special signs (accents, til, cedilla, etc.) or to different types of lettering (italic, etc.).

The B.D., like the object it deals with, covers mainly the fifteenth, sixteenth, seventeenth and, in a lesser way, the eighteenth and the fourteenth centuries. Some areas are somewhat more developed than others - above all the History of Technical and Scientific Achievements in the Discoveries (which merited its own section in the general structure) and the History of the Portuguese Colonization of Brazil. The latter implied a slight enlargement of the sections covering the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The greater number of entries here may serve as an example of the sort of branching-out that might later be undertaken in other areas, such as India, the Atlantic Islands, and so on. The fact that these two areas are given a particular emphasis may well be due to their being the fields in which the author has concentrated his own research. But the more detailed and thorough treatment may perhaps also be justified in relation to the History of Technical and Scientific Achievements by the acknowledged importance of the subject and the real abundance and quality of the works that deal with it, and, in the case of the Portuguese Colonization of Brazil, by the undeniable fact that Brazil, the 'País Irmão', is the most significant consequence of Portuguese expansion and Portugal's most valuable gift to the world. As Jaime Cortesão used to say, the fifteenth- and sixteenth- century adventure of the oceanic discoveries continued during the seventeenth century in the jungles of Brazil.

THE PREPARATION AND MAINTENANCE OF THE B.D.

The first headquarters of the B.D. since its creation has been the Coimbra section of the Centro de Estudos de História e Cartografia Antiga, part of the Instituto de Investigação Científica Tropical annexed to the Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologica da Universidade de Coimbra (F.C.T.U.C.). It remained there until Professor Luís de Albuquerque passed away. During this first period the team responsible was made up of Alfredo Pinheiro Marques, António Fernando Tavares Lopes, Maria da Graça Pericão, João Maria Diogo. In 1993 Diana Helena dos Santos Alves joined us.

 Nowadays, due to logistics -- and as a way of honouring the great historian of Nautical Science -- the B.D. headquarters are located in the Luís de Albuquerque Center for the Sudies of the Sea (Centro de Estudos do Mar Luís de Albuquerque), in Figueira da Foz, Portugal.

 In order to ensure the permanent updating and expansion of the Bibliography of the Discoveries, we would welcome any information regarding works, publishers and institutions responsible for the publication of present or future work in the field.

 Correspondence should be directed to the following address:
 

Alfredo Pinheiro Marques, Faculdade de Letras

 Universidade de Coimbra, 3049 COIMBRA Codex -- PORTUGAL

We would be grateful to receive any criticisms or suggestions that will help us improve this Bibliography.

CIRCUMSTANCES AND DIFFICULTIES

 OF CREATING THE B.D.

The persons and institutions who have provided assistance in many forms or who have worked or are working with us in various ways in the preparation of this project, make a lengthy list of thankful acknowledgements.

 During the phase of preparation (in the years 1987-1989), various favourable opinions and recommendations concerning the project were emitted by a number of major historians and scholars, the most eminent in their fields, whose evaluations, for which we are most grateful, honour us greatly -- namely Prof. Luís de Albuquerque (F.C.T.U.C.), Prof. Luís Ferrand de Almeida and Prof. Salvador Dias Arnaut (Faculdade de Letras da Universidade de Coimbra), and Prof. Vitorino Magalhães Godinho (Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas da Universidade Nova de Lisboa).

 During 1989-1991 the installation of the operational centre of the Bibliography of the Discoveries in the Coimbra section of the Centro de Estudos de História e Cartografia Antiga, part of the Instituto de Investigação Científica Tropical annexed to the Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologica da Universidade de Coimbra, was possible thanks to the goodwill of the Presidents of the Administrative Council of the Mathematics Department of the F.C.T.U.C., Prof. J. A. Fernandes de Carvalho and Prof. José Lourenço Vitória. We appreciate their support, as we do the consideration shown us by the President of the Instituto de Investigação Científica Tropical, Prof. J. A. da Cruz e Silva, and the Head of its Departamento de Ciências Económicas, Históricas e Sociológicas, Prof. Luís de Albuquerque. These were the two IICT Directors who showed goodwill in relation to our project.

 And it obviously goes without saying that our deepest gratitude is due to our teacher and friend, Prof. Luís de Albuquerque, for all the support that he has given this project from its inception -- and to him we had the honour of dedicating this work (in 1989).

 Prof. Charles Ralph Boxer -- the most prestigious scholar in the History of Portuguese Overseas Expansion -- honoured us with a preface, in the year 1992.

 The Bibliography of the Discoveries was inaugurated on 25.11.1992, by H.E. the President of Portugal, Doutor Mário Soares, during the Commemoration of the 6th Centennary of the Birth of the Infante Dom Pedro -- although that Commemoration unfortunately failed to be celebrated by others in an adequate dimension, and Portugal continues to have a great debt towards the Infante Dom Pedro, as promotor of the Portuguese discoveries and navigations, and author of the book Virtuosa Benfeitoria.

In the same way that we have called atention to the support and help given to us, we must also not forget all the difficulties, lack of understanding and even hostility we had to face and deal with. We carried out the initial project of the Bibliography of the Discoveries in Coimbra, in the Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia da Universidade de Coimbra, thanks to Professor Luís de Albuquerque, since we did not get the necessary conditions to do it in another place.

 In its beginnings (1988) the Comissão Nacional para as Comemorações dos Descobrimentos Portugueses also contributed to make this Bibliography possible by considering it a priority in Portuguese Historiography, though no support was actually given for this programme in the next years (even when we asked for it).

 In the year 1990, even in newspapers such as Expresso (of 13th January 1990), this bibliographic database was referred to as one of the main projects being prepared with the support of the Comissão Nacional para as Comemorações dos Descobrimentos Portugueses, and as one of those which would in fact justify the actual existence of that same Comissão. Indeed, it got to the point where one could read, under the title DESCOBRIMENTOS AVANÇAM ["DISCOVERIES MOVE FORWARD"], that (...) Encontra-se praticamente acabada a informatização da bibliografia relativa aos Descobrimentos. É um trabalho tão discreto como indispensável. As funções da Comissão não são necessariamente espectaculares (...) [sic]. ["The computerization of the bibliography on the Discoveries is now almost completed. It is as much a discreet work as it is an essential one. The achievements of this Commission do not necessarily have to be spectacular."]

 Even the initial computer software, although offered and paid for by the CTT (Correios e Telecomunicações de Portugal), was bought through the Comissão para as Comemorações dos Descobrimentos. Nevertheless, throughout the following years -- and up until today (1989-1995) -- that Commission did not give any real support to the Bibliography of the Discoveries (neither a cent nor a floppy disk, nor anything...). And especially when that support was really needed, and was insistently requested, due to the difficulties and delays brought about by the first official sponsor: the CTT. Through the years, this state-owned corporation underwent several internal changes, including breakup. Therefore, it never did fulfil its obligations on time (greatly hindering the project, that only managed to survive thanks to the perseverance of those who were actually creating it). And during the time in which we repeatedly wrote to the Comissão para as Comemorações dos Descobrimentos asking for some backing so as to compensate for the financial assistance that was delayed and would not come, and asking them to intercede with the CTT on our behalf -- in a word, asking the Commission to do something for a project that was also theirs -- we never got any real support. Most of the time, we did not even get an answer. Occasionally, we would receive affirmative replies, acknowledging the usefulness and quality of the project. Always promises. Never any real support. We wrote and asked for backing especially on the following dates: 30.01.1990; 21.06.1990; 14.10.1990; 26.11.1990; 17.12.1990; 25.02.1991; 16.05.1991; 08.09.1991; 15.10.1991. The Commission answered us on 13.11.1990; 27.05.1991; 18.07.1991; 16.09.1991; 03.10.1991; 23.10.1991. Promises, always. Support, never.

 Only in the last few months of 1991, thanks to our continuous pressure and, later on, to the attentive concern and goodwill of Professor Luís de Albuquerque, who ended up having to deal with this matter personally (as President, at the time, of the Commission's Scientific Board), we finally got the Commission to pay some attention to the Bibliography of the Discoveries (in spite of a lot of ill feeling clearly shown by others). Once again, as was his custom, Professor Luís de Albuquerque gave a clear example of impartiality and fairness towards everyone, and especially those who were closer to him (in an obviously delicate situation, made even worse since it concerned something that was dedicated to him, and so he would have naturally preferred someone else to take the initiative of encouraging financial support of the Bibliography). But not even this got the Commission to give us any sort of backing. In 1991, of the two people ordered to write a report, one did not come to Coimbra; the other one came, but did not even try to speak to the coordinator of the Bibliography, and (according to the staff that were present at the time), of all four hundred and fourteen (414) sections of the database... he only looked up one (1)... Well... at least that person did not criticize the quality of the product... Meanwhile, Professor Luís de Albuquerque passed away, and all came to a standstill; no support was ever given.

 We tried to find other sponsors. We tried banks, etc.. We only got refusals. The only help we received was from the computer company INFORGAL, which generously offered us some hardware and software material (July 1992). The same bank that had refused us any kind of support for the making of this bibliography about the Portuguese presence in the world, was seen to give away heaps of money immediately afterwards so as to bring an expensive popular foreign singer to Portugal, for a concert.

 Even so, we never gave up. We completed the project and put it to work, with the help of a few who generously encouraged us with their support: first of all Professor Luís de Albuquerque, then the Reitoria da Universidade de Coimbra -- to whose Principal, Professor Rui de Alarcão e Silva, we would now like to express our gratitude --, and finally INFORGAL, CTT (the initial sponsor of the project, that did continue to give some financial support, although less than at the beginning), and then Telecom Portugal (later Portugal Telecom).

 We were left almost on our own but, in spite of everything, we did not give up. With very limited resources we did something that the National Commission for the Commemoration of the Portuguese Discoveries, with its vast resources (spending loads of public money), did not do. And it is scandalous that it didn't -- after years and years of existence, wasting money on showy but petty things, insignificant speeches, celebrations, processions, trips, and commemorative folklore: publishing catalogues and catalogues of Art exhibitions, always very colourful, bright, showy, each one worse than the previous one: richer, more impressive, non-systematic, and insignificant. Totally forgetting to prepare really useful scientific tools -- those that are in fact essential, and last forever, and become vital instruments to the scientific community, and mark an era -- that State Commission did not do it. And that is why we had to do it: creating the most useful and fundamental scientific tool of all: the Bibliography of the Discoveries.

 Anyway, the initial proposal for the B.D. received attention from the C.T.T. (Correios e Telecomunicações de Portugal), and could, after all, survive, and it is proper that we express our gratitude to the former Board of Directors. This sponsorship was given, in several rhythms, in the years 1989-1992. From 1993 onwards, due to the splitting of the CTT into two corporations, the support given to the B.D. was maintained by the Telecom Portugal, and after that by the Portugal Telecom. We would like to acknowledge the generous attention given in 1944 to this project by H.E. the Minister of Works and Buildings, Transport and Communications, Eng. Joaquim Ferreira do Amaral, and also by the Telecom Portugal Board of Directors, in this way overcoming the delays and indefinitudes due to the splittings of these corporations.

 When the B.D. was installed in the Centro de Estudos do Mar and in the Sala de História Marítima of the Biblioteca Municipal da Figueira da Foz (1995), all goodwill was shown by the people responsible in the Câmara Municipal da Figueira da Foz and its Culture Department. For this we would like to express our thanks to the Mayor Eng. Manuel Alfredo Aguiar de Carvalho.

We would also like to express a special thanks to a number of teachers and researchers and to our colleagues and friends from various parts of the world, whether they work in areas strictly related to the Geographical Discoveries and Overseas Expansion or not, who have provided information and aided us in various ways in the making of this Bibliography. Along with many others whom it would be impossible to list in detail here, permit us to mention: Guilhermina Mota, Maria Antónia Lopes, Américo da Costa Ramalho, Pedro Dias, António Resende de Oliveira, Maria Filomena Mesquita, Martin A. Kayman, João Paulo Moreira, Zélia Ventura, Maria Armanda de Almeida e Sousa, Isaltina Figueiredo Martins, Vítor Serrão (Faculdade de Letras da Universidade de Coimbra); Charles Ralph Boxer (Univ. London); Frédéric Mauro (I.H.E.A.L., Univ. Paris III); W.G.L. Randles (E.H.E.S.S., Paris); Ilaria Caraci (University of Genoa); Luís Filipe Reis Thomaz (Univ. Lisboa); Max Justo Guedes (S.D.G.M., Rio de Janeiro); Demétrio Ramos Perez (C.C.-S.A.U.V., Valladolid); David Waters (National Maritime Museum, Greenwich); Octávio Lixa Filgueiras (F.L.U.P., Porto); Rodney Shirley (U.K.); Kazutaka Unno (University of Osaka); Monique Kervan (C.N.R.S., Paris); Juan Alemany Llovera (Barcelona); István Rákóczi (University E.L.T.E., Budapest), Alberto Vieira, Alícia Abreu (C.E.H.A., Funchal); Richard Barker (U.K.); A. Estácio dos Reis (Biblioteca Central da Marinha, Lisboa); Nelson Veríssimo (Funchal); Hermann Kellenbenz (München); António Silva Ribeiro (Inst. Hidrográfico, Lisboa); Artur Teodoro de Matos (Univ. Nova de Lisboa); Adelina Carvalho, Gracília do Carmo, José Marques (BMFF).

NOTE: All specifications and characteristics of this Bibliography and its thematic structure are subject to modification in the future, should such alterations be deemed necessary or desirable for its improvement. The text of this manual may therefore become in part obsolescent.

ABBREVIATIONS USED

ABBREV. OF INSTITUTIONS:

ACL - Academia das Ciências de Lisboa, Lisboa.
AECA - Agrupamento de Estudos de Cartografia Antiga, Coimbra-Lisboa.
AGC - Agência Geral das Colónias, Lisboa.
AGU - Agência Geral do Ultramar, Lisboa.
AHU - Arquivo Histórico Ultramarino, Lisboa.
AICP - Academia Internacional de Cultura Portuguesa, Lisboa.
AM - Academia de Marinha, Lisboa.
ANTT - Arquivo Nacional da Torre do Tombo, Lisboa.
APH - Academia Portuguesa da História, Lisboa.
BGUC - Biblioteca Geral da Universidade de Coimbra, Coimbra.
BL - British Library, London.
BMFF - Biblioteca Municipal Pedro Fernandes Tomás, Figueira da Foz.
BNL - Biblioteca Nacional de Lisboa, Lisboa.
BNP - Bibliothéque Nationale, Paris.
CCP - Centro Cultural Português da Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, Paris.
CC-LPGC - Casa de Colón, Las Palmas de Gran Canária.
CC-SAUV - Casa de Colón - Seminario Americanista de la Universidad de Valladolid, Valladolid.
CCVCMIDH - Comissão Executiva das Comemorações do V Centenário da Morte do Infante D.Henrique. CECA - Centro de Estudos de Cartografia Antiga, Lisboa-Coimbra.
CEHCA - Centro de Estudos de História e Cartografia Antiga, Lisboa-Coimbra.
CEHU - Centro de Estudos Históricos Ultramarinos, Lisboa.
CEMAR - Centro de Estudos do Mar e das Navegações Luís de Albuquerque, Figueira da Foz.
CEMM - Centro de Estudos Marítimos de Macau, Macau.
CEN - Companhia Editora Nacional, São Paulo.
CNCDP - Comissão Nacional para as Comemorações dos Descobrimentos Portugueses, Lisboa.
CSIC - Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Madrid.
CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Paris.
CTT - Correios e Telecomunicações de Portugal, Lisboa.
DRAC - Direcção Regional dos Assuntos Culturais, Funchal.
EEHA - Escuela de Estudios Hispano-Americanos, Sevilla.
FCG - Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, Lisboa-Paris-London.
FCSH-UNL - Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas da UNL, Lisboa.
FCTUC - Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia da Universidade de Coimbra, Coimbra.
FDUC - Faculdade de Direito da Universidade de Coimbra, Coimbra.
FLUC - Faculdade de Letras da Universidade de Coimbra, Coimbra.
FLUL - Faculdade de Letras da Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa.
FLUP - Faculdade de Letras da Universidade do Porto, Porto
IAC - Instituto de Alta Cultura, Lisboa.
ICM - Instituto Cultural de Macau, Macau.
ICP - Instituto de Cultura Portuguesa, Lisboa.
ICLP (ou/or ICALP) - Instituto de Cultura e Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa.
IEB-FLUC - Instituto de Estudos Brasileiros da FLUC, Coimbra.
IFAN - Institut Français de l'Afrique Noire, Dakar.
IHIT - Instituto Histórico da Ilha Terceira, Angra do Heroísmo.
IICT - Instituto de Investigação Científica Tropical, Lisboa.
INCM - Imprensa Nacional/Casa da Moeda, Lisboa.
INIC - Instituto Nacional de Investigação Científica, Lisboa.
IPPAAR - Instituto Português do Património Arquitectónico e Arqueológico, Lisboa.
IPPC - Instituto Português do Património Cultural, Lisboa.
ISCSPU - Instituto Superior de Ciências Sociais e Política Ultramarina, Lisboa.
ISCSP - Instituto Superior de Ciências Sociais e Políticas, Lisboa.
ISIPH - International Seminar on Indo-Portuguese History.
JIU - Junta de Investigações do Ultramar, Lisboa.
JICU - Junta de Investigações Científicas do Ultramar, Lisboa.
MEC - Ministério da Educação e Cultura, Rio de Janeiro-Brasília.
MRE - Ministério das Relações Exteriores, Rio de Janeiro-Brasília.
NGS - National Geographic Society, Washington DC.
PUF - Presses Universitaires de France, Paris.
RGS - Royal Geographic Society, London.
SDGM - Serviço de Documentação Geral da Marinha do Brasil, Rio de Janeiro.
SEDES - Societé d'Éditions de l'Enseignement Superieur, Paris.
SEVPEN - Societé d'Éditions et Vente des Publications de l'Enseignement Superieur, Paris.
SGL - Sociedade de Geografia de Lisboa, Lisboa.
TOT - Meridian / Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, Amsterdam.
UC - Universidade de Coimbra, Coimbra.
UL - Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa.
UNL - Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Lisboa.

PERIODICALS CITED IN ABBREVIATED FORM:

Annales ESC - Annales. Economies, Societés, Civilisations., Paris.
AAPH - Anais da Academia Portuguesa da História, Lisboa.
BAGC - Boletim da Agência Geral das Colónias, Lisboa.
BAGU - Boletim da Agência Geral do Ultramar, Lisboa.
BEDM - Boletim Eclesiástico da Diocese de Macau, Macau.
BIHIT - Boletim do Instituto Histórico da Ilha Terceira, Angra do Heroísmo.
BIPH - Boletim do Instituto Português de Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
BIVG - Boletim do Instituto Vasco da Gama, Bastorá (Goa).
HAHR - Hispanic American Historical Review, Durham (North Carolina).
HT - HIstory Today, London.
JRAS - Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, London.
MM -The Mariner's Mirror (International Journal of the Society for Nautical Research), London
TASJ - Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan, Tokyo.
THM - T'ien Tsia Monthly, Xanghai.
TPJSL - Transactions and Proceedings of the Japan Society of London, London.
RUC - Revista da Universidade de Coimbra, Coimbra.
RHES - Revista de História Económica e Social, Lisboa.
RPH - Revista Portuguesa de História, Coimbra.

OTHER ABBREV. FORMS:

abrev. - abreviado(a) / abbreviated
Ad. - Almirante / Admiral
Alm. - Almirante / Admiral
cap. - capítulo / chapter
Com. - Comandante / Captain
chap. - capítulo / chapter
ed. - edição / edition
eng. - Inglês(a) / English
esp. - Espanhol(a) / Spanish
facsim. - facsimilado(a) / facsimiled
fasc. - fascículo
franc. - Francês(a) / French
it. - Italiano(a) / Italian
n. - número / number
O.C. - Obras Completas / Complete Works
part. - parte / part
Pe. - Padre / Father
port. - Português(a) / Portuguese
reed. - reedição / new edition
reprint ed. - reimpressão / reprinted edition
rev. - edição revista / revised edition
s.d. - sem data / no date
s.l. - sem lugar / no place
sep. - separata / offprint
ser. - série / series
sq. - e seguintes / and folowing
t. - tomo / volume
thes. dactil. - tese dactilografada / unpublished thesis
trad. - tradução / translation
trans. - tradução / translation
vol. - volume

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