The basis of the Latin American collections at Yale was established early in the 20th Century with a succession of acquisitions and gifts from Henry Raup Wagner, William S. Beebe, and Hiram Bingham. Wagner and Bingham were Yale alumni whose substantial gifts to Yale included collections rich in nineteenth-century Latin American material. These collections were notable for their historical, political, and economic materials relating to México and Perú. Hiram Bingham, Yale professor of history and curator of Yale's collection of Latin American History from 1908-1930, sold and donated to Yale a collection of Peruvian materials strong in literature, archaeology, anthropology and folklore. His gifts also included the Francisco Pérez de Velasco library of 19th century Peruvian history, and many books from the Peruvian historian, Manuel de Odriozola. Together with the acquisition of part of the select library of Mexican historian Genaro García, all of these acquisitions made Yale's Mexican and Peruvian collections internationally known.
The library also has an impressive collection of Brazilian materials. The strength of the collection lies in the sizeable numbers of works on Brazilian history, literature, travel accounts, and regional histories. The collection is particularly rich in materials relating to colonial Brazilian history. The James Watson Webb Collection, detailing his service as American Minister to Pedro II's Court in Brazil, and the Percival Farquhar Collection, relating to railroad building and business ventures in Brazil during the first half of the twentieth century, are also part of Yale's Brazilian collection.
Other collections of major importance at Yale are those representing Argentina, Chile, Cuba and Central America. Argentina is comprehensively represented, especially in early twentieth-century publications. The collections of Carlos A Tornquist and Davis Curtis DeForest form the basis of Yale's Argentine holdings. The material donated by Tornquist had a strong emphasis on literature, history, oratory, law and sociology. The Chilean collection contains a respectable number of works on Chilean history and literature, covering the period from 1875 to the present. In the late 1960s and 1970s a successful systematic effort was made to build up the Chilean collection.
Currently, the collection comprises over 522,000 printed volumes, including monographs, serials, newspapers, and government documents, and is growing at a rate of 11,000 volumes a year. It has subscriptions to more than 3,500 Latin American periodicals and monographic series. In addition to printed matter the collection is rich in manuscript material, and it contains a newspaper microfilm collection of 15,000 reels, as well as such non-book materials as photographs, documentary films, and maps.
Although Yale's concentration of Latin American research material is housed in Sterling Memorial Library, there are important collections classified under an old Yale classification scheme and housed in the Seeley Mudd Library. These materials are sometimes referred to as the "Latin American Country Collections." Apart from the Latin American Collection, sizeable Latin American holdings are also found in the Economic Growth Center Collection, and the Divinity, Law, Social Science and Beinecke Libraries. Smaller collections are found in the Music, Art, Medical and Kline Science Libraries and the Peabody Museum. The Economic Growth Center Collection is unique among collections of its kind in the United States. The collection contains extensive holdings of statistical publications issued by government agencies, private institutions and central banks from every country in Latin America. Social scientists have found this collection to be invaluable in their research on the economic development of Latin America.
of the Latin American Collection is available for consultation and provides
advanced reference services to students and faculty by appointment.
The office of the collection is located on the 3rd floor of Sterling
Memorial Library, Rm316.
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This file last modified: 10 November 2011
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