Valente Collection | National Library of Australia (NLA)

Valente Collection

The Valente Collection contains about 6,000 books, mostly in Portuguese, focusing on literature, history, and religion. It includes works on politics, topography, archaeology, art, Portuguese exploration and colonies, heraldry, genealogy, language, and bibliography.

Key items in the collection

Highlights from this collection demonstrate its historical significance and variety.

The original collection comprised about 8,200 volumes (7,200 titles), almost entirely in Portuguese. Subsequently, a number of duplicates were discarded and the present collection contains about 870 volumes in the Rare Books Collection and about 6,000 volumes in the general collection.

The main strengths of the collection are:

  • literature
  • history
  • religion.

There are also works on:

  • politics
  • topography
  • archaeology
  • art
  • Portuguese exploration
  • Portuguese colonies
  • heraldry
  • genealogy
  • language
  • bibliography.

Literary works total about 2,000, of which about half consist of plays, mostly published in the 18th and 19th centuries. Among the notable Portuguese writers represented in the collection are:

  • José Valentim Fiahlo de Almeida
  • Joao Almeida Garrett
  • Alberto Braga
  • Teofilo Braga
  • D Joao da Camara
  • Camilo Castello Branco
  • Raul Brandäo
  • Luis de Camoes
  • Ferreira de Castro
  • Luis Chaves
  • Sousa Costa
  • Julio Dantas
  • Antero de Figueiredo
  • Joao Grave
  • Alexandre Herculano
  • Marcellino Mesquita
  • José Carlos dos Santos
  • Alberto de Sousa Costa.

Some of the more substantial works in the collection include:

The Valente Collection contains 40 manuscripts and typescripts, including:

  • plays
  • poetry
  • music
  • historical works
  • religious works.

They mostly date from the 19th century.

The only modern work is a 3-volume typescript history of Coimbra University in the period 1834–1885, written in 1960.

Visit Literary works 1790–1960 (collected by Amador Valente)

There are a large number of periodicals in the collection. Some of the longer runs are:

About the Valente collection

The Valente family were an old Portuguese-landed family who lived in a 17th-century house at Oliveira de Aziméis, near Porto. Their library was established in the 18th century and became the Library's 'Valente collection', mostly collected by Alfonso Manuel Alvares Amador Egas Moniz de Almeida de Faria de Oliveira Valente.

His name, in somewhat shortened form (Alfonso Manuel Valente), is inscribed in some of the books. His descendants were also collectors, with most of the modern works being acquired by Manuel Amador Valente (born 1970), the last surviving member of the family.

Background to the collection

The Valente Collection was purchased by the Library in 1970 from Livraria Histórica e Ultramarino of Lisbon.

A stocktake was carried out by the Library in 1974 – request to view the Record of stocktake.

The periodicals in the Valente Collection have been integrated in the general collection, while the books have been kept together as a formed collection. About 590 titles (870 volumes), consisting of pre-1801 imprints and modern works of considerable aesthetic value, are held in the Rare Books Collection. The remainder of the books are in the general collection. The call numbers have the prefix RB VAL and VAL.

The manuscripts are held in the Manuscripts Collection. They have been catalogued at the collection level, but there is no listing. Refer to Literary works 1790–1960 (manuscripts).

Page published: 07 Jul 2025

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