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Archiver > GEN-MEDIEVAL > 2000-01 > 0948983020


From: Francisco Antonio Doria <>
Subject: Re: Fw: Ratings issues--and TAG
Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2000 14:23:40 -0000


1/27/00 1:10 PM Janet Denham remarked:

>I think that in the United States, the
>focus has been different for a variety of reasons.

Yes, I know that. I just wanted to emphasize the differences in goals in
the texts that you can find published here and in the US. A recent work,
_Dicionário das Famílias Brasileiras_ (Dictionary of Brazilian Families),
by Carlos Barata and A. Cunha Bueno, 1999, shows it very clearly. Barata
is my friend and colleague at the CBG, while Cunha Bueno, a federal
representayive by a conservative party, is leader of the Monarchist
caucus.

A more American-style kind of research in genealogy is to be found in the
works of C. G. Rheingantz, especially his _Primeiras Famílias do Rio de
Janeiro_ (2 vols., Rio, 1965) (First families from Rio), which was
directly based on first-hand documentary data. Even so, it contains many
mistakes and interpretation blunders. Bulcão Sobrinho, a lawyer and judge
in the State of Bahia, published his _Famílias Baianas_ (Families from
the State of Bahia), a 5-volume series which appeared sort of irregularly
in the late 40s. While reliable in general, it has several defects, in my
opinion: is restricted to a small group of inbred families, most of them
of mercantile, `recent' origins (late 17th century on); it aggrandizes
their origins, or at least disguises lowly origins; and avoids the touchy
issue of recent, illegitimate branches.

There is also the great 9-volume set, _Genealogia Paulistana_ (Genealogy
of the State of S. Paulo), published 1900-1910, by Luiz Gonzaga da Silva
Leme, an American-educated (studied at Rensselaer) engineer. We now begin
to see its manifold flaws. Yet, it became a kind of Bible for genealogy
in that area.

This is just to give an idea of the way we play the game...

chico

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