About Database

The elaboration of a database containing bibliographical information on samples of French prose fiction that composed the collections of the library of Grêmio Literário e Recreativo Português do Pará was the starting point for Paris in America Website. The data gathering process was performed by physical consultation of samples, which are still available at the institution. This website uses bibliographical data that are common to the information systems using books as their ‘object’: author, title, translator, publisher, illustrator, edition, place of publication, quantity of volumes, etc. In addition to these filter criteria, the website offers other helpful alternatives to those users engaged in Cultural History research, such as publisher’s and printing house’s addresses. Another advantageous resource made available by the website is the scanned image of cover sheets of each sample registered. Below, you can access detailed explanation on the database to optimize your search.

1. The entry author contains information on the author, starting by last name followed by first name. Whenever authorship is not available, a note saying “não consta” [there is no record] will appear.
2. The entry date of edition [year of edition] will show d. initials to indicate this information is not available and brackets to indicate probable dates (in cases sample dates were closely presumable)
3. The entry translator, contains information about the translator or a note saying “não consta” [there is no record] to indicate the sample does not contain the name of the professional responsible for the translation, and a note saying “não possui” [does not apply] to indicate the work was published only in the original language.
4. The entry type of translation [translate type], contains detailed information alongside with the translator’s name, to specify the qualification of the translation – “version of”; authorized translation”, “free translation”, “translated from French”, or the professional qualification of the translator – “navigation officer”, “mathematics instructor at polythecnic school and astronomer at the naval observatory”, “publisher and translator”.
5. The entry number of edition contains quantitative and qualitative information on the edition, such as: “2^nd edition”, “11 ed. revue” or yet, “new edition”, “Illustrated edition”, as for example: “cinquante-deuxième mille”, “ 37 mille”. In cases in which there is no information, the note saying “não consta” [there is no record] will appear.

6. The entry quantity of volumes contains information on the number of volumes of the desired work. Some novels were published in one single volume, while others are divided into 10 volumes. It is important to remark in some cases, not all volumes of a certain work are available in the library. A special indication will appear on “notes” whenever the series is not completely available.
7. The entry number of volume contains information on the number of the volume corresponding to the referred sample. For example: volume no. 1 from a total of 10 (1/10).
8. The entry collection contains the identification of the title of the collection inside of which the work was published will appear.
9. The entry place of edition [editing local] contains the name of the city (ies) where the work was published. When this bibliographical information is not provided in the original, a note saying “ [l.] sine loco, will appear.
10. The entry publisher contains information on the publisher’s name or the identification of the publishing company. When originals do not bring this information, a note saying “ [s.n.], sine nomine will appear. Note that a number of samples do not bring the publisher’s name, but the printing house’s name, instead. Even in such cases, when it is presumable that printing houses were also responsible for publishing, the same note will appear. We sought to respect the variations or adaptations observed in the names of publishing companies as they express distinct historical moments. This accounts for the appearance of two or more entries for one same publisher, for example: Arthème-Fayard éditeur and Arthème-Fayard et Cie.

11. The entry publisher’s address contains the name of the street followed by the name of the building. Note that changes of address were respected allowing users to search for different addresses of an publisher over time.

12. The entry printing house contains the name of the company responsible for the typographic work of samples. Likewise, when no registry is found in the originals, the note saying “there is no record” will appear. In cases when there are different names for printing houses, which are likely to be the same, we decided to preserve the information on the originals. This accounts for duplicate entries that probably appoint to the same company. For example Typographia de L. C. da Cunha and Typographia de L. Corrêa da Cunha.
13. The entry printing house’s address contains the name of the street, followed by the number of the building and the city where it is located. In some cases, there is no precise address indication, but a mere mention of a municipality or commune (in case of French editions), for example, Poissy.