Spanish collections | Portuguese
collections | Latin American collections
Copyright © 1997 British Library Board
British Library, G.11951-56
A Bible in Syriac, Latin, Greek and Hebrew, printed in 1520
in Alcalá de Henares, generally known as the Complutensian polyglot.
The British Library holds one of the two great collections of Spanish
imprints outside Spain (the other being that of the Hispanic Society
of America in New York). For the period before 1601, c. 3000 books
are held and virtually all the early presses are represented. The
Library has the most complete set of the parts of Amadís de
Gaula in existence. In general, Spanish books published outside
Spain are well represented. No important Spanish 17th-century imprints
are lacking in the collection. 18th-century Spain is especially
well represented (e.g. c. 200 Ibarra imprints). 19th- and 20th-century
books have been acquired covering a range of subjects within the
humanities and social sciences and, in particular, literature and
history are widely collected. Miscellaneous collections of note
are: the Ashbee collection of editions of Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616);
the collection of John Rutter Chorley (1807?-1867) of Spanish drama
and poetry and books on Spanish drama; and many collections of Spanish
and Catalan chapbooks. A good collection of Hispanic official publications
is held by the Social
Policy Information Service.
The Library holds an excellent collection of c. 350 16th-century
Portuguese books. Another collection of note includes c. 500 Portuguese
ballads, romances etc, 1835-1862 (1074.g.23-28). The Library has
strong holdings of late 19th- and early 20th-century literature.
African countries are represented in the collections by material
dating from colonial times and material continues to be collected
today from countries where Portuguese is the official language.
Material is also collected from Timor and Macau.
The British Library has the largest collection on Latin America
in the United Kingdom, containing material on all humanities and
social science topics and periods and on all the countries of Latin
America and the Spanish-speaking Caribbean. Mexico and Brazil are
especially well represented. There are strong collections of material
on the independence movements of early nineteenth-century South
America. The Library is well supplied for the earlier part of the
nineteenth century in holdings of Brazilian and Argentinian historical
and literary items. Of note is the collection of mainly 19th-century
pamphlets, formed by the political journalist Luis López Domínguez
(1810-1898?). Central American holdings are less complete. Among
historical official publications held, Mexican and Brazilian material
of the first half of the nineteenth century is well represented.
Further information
