Colonial Roots of Modern Brazil: Papers of the Newberry Library Conference

This book contains seven papers on colonial Brazil: an essay by an old hand and six research papers by younger scholars. With two others not collected here, they were given in preliminary versions at the Newberry Library Conference on November 21-22, 1969. In his preface editor Dauril Alden advises that no common theme was assigned and that contributors were asked to tackle important topics that appear neglected or misunderstood. Some convergence of interest, however, is apparent. The research papers are grouped as “political” and “socio-economic.” Two focus on the seventeenth century, four on the eighteenth. Biography, art history, and ecclesiastical history do not figure, nor does regional history south of Rio. The authors share a concern to lay foundations for a knowledge of the development of secular institutions.