Constituiçaõ politica do imperio do Brazil. Lisboa, Impr. de J. Nunes Esteves, 1826. [In a sammelband with other Lisbon and Porto imprints, the majority of which relate to the Portuguese National Guard and military].

Small 8vo. Later quarter blue roan, gilt, with marbled paper-covered boards, rubbed, upper joint split at head of spine, a few small dents to extremities of the boards. Ms contents to lined blank leaves at start of volume. 284pp. Lisbon and Porto, 

A sammelband of rare Portuguese militaria, including an early printing of Brazil's first constitution. The constitution, which maintained its validity for 65 years, was first published in Rio de Janeiro in 1824 and first appeared with a Portuguese imprint (Lisbon: na Imp. de Eugenio Augusto) later that year.

As there are no other 1824 editions and no trace of an 1825 printing, this diminutive version would have been among the first to be widely available to the general public in Portugal. The primacy of this specific edition is hard to determine as three 1826 editions, all with the same imprint, exist in university and national libraries (each with different pagination). The BNP holds copies of each, with 46, 62 and 66 pages respectively. Our copy bears traces of the original grey-blue wrappers, found on other examples of the João Nunes Esteves editions.

 

Contents:

 

[BRAZIL]. [CONSTITUTION]. Constituiçaõ politica do imperio do Brazil. 47,[1errata]pp. Lisboa, Impr. de J. Nunes Esteves, 1826. In the BNP. WorldCat locates four copies with the same pagination as the present copy, at Newberry, Harvard, Princeton and the New York Public Library. It also locates two copies with 60pp. (Yale and the BL) and two copies with 83pp. (Brown and Harvard). We cannot find any copies in auction records.

 

Decreto para as guardas nacionaes. 30pp. Lisboa, Impr. Silviana, 1834. With the end of the Liberal Wars, the victorious Liberal regime abolished the traditional militias, replacing them with a newly formed National Guard. This decree, in a number of articles, puts forward rules and regulations for the composition and responsibilities of the Guard. In the BNP. No copies in WorldCat.

 

[Five Portarias (ordinances) relating to the National Guard]. 3,[1blank]; 2; 4; [2]; [1],[1blank]pp. Lisboa, 1835.

 

Formulario do processo do conselho de disciplina, para uso dos batalhões da Guarda Nacional… 12pp. Lisboa, Impr. João Nunes Esteves, 1835. Not in the BNP. No copies in WorldCat.

 

Supplemento ao almanak commercial, fabril, judicial e administrative, do Porto e seu districto … para 1856. [173]-252pp. Porto, J. L. de Sousa, 1856. (Also, supplements for the almanacs of 1859 and 1860-61; 8 and [2],16,[2]pp. respectively). Each supplement concerns laws or decrees on recruitment to the military. The BNP has the almanac of 1855 and (it seems) the supplement of 1856, but does not hold the other supplements.

 

Decreto de 9 de Julho de 1862. 16pp. Porto, 1862.

 

Pesos e medidas – Legislação. 55,[1blank]pp. Lisboa, Typographia Franco-Portugueza, 1864. Not in BNP. No copies in WorldCat.

Stock Code: 230326