Bidspirit auction | Oliveira, Camilo de — O

Oliveira, Camilo de — O CONCELHO DE GONDOMAR. (Apontamentos Monográficos). 4 vols. 2nd edition. Gondomar / Oporto. Tipografia Gondomarense / Livraria Avis. 1972, 1979. 24.5 × 16.0 cm. E. - Reference monograph on the concelho of Gondomar, a capital work of Portuguese regional ethnography and history, compiled over twelve years of research and written entirely at the author's own expense. Explicitly situated within the tradition of the great studies of Leite de Vasconcelos, the work covers, across four substantial volumes, an unparalleled range of material: the prehistoric archaeology of the concelho, the transcription of medieval manuscripts, the description of architecture and monuments, the study of religious orders, the heraldry and genealogy of the seigneurial houses, a treatise on local goldsmithing with illustrations, an ethnographic survey comprising legends, customs, and the regional song repertoire, and detailed analyses of mineral and hydrological resources, among many other aspects. The work was immediately recognised, upon the appearance of its first edition (Imprensa Moderna, Oporto, 1931–1938), as one of the most complete and rigorously executed regional monographs of twentieth-century Portugal. This second edition was begun in 1972 with the publication of the first volume by the Tipografia Gondomarense, at the expense of the Câmara Municipal de Gondomar, and completed in 1979 with the publication of the three remaining volumes by Livraria Avis, in Oporto. This copy retains the oleographic stamps of the Presidência do Conselho de Ministros – Gabinete do Ministro de Estado on all covers and half-title pages, indicating that it belonged to the working library of a minister of the Portuguese government — a provenance that underscores the importance that a regional work of this scope held for the national administration. Camilo Martins de Oliveira (São Cosme de Gondomar, 1874–1946) was a priest, republican, teacher, journalist, and scholar. He abandoned the priesthood, considering it incompatible with his political activism against the monarchy, and was one of the victims of Paiva Couceiro's ”Monarquia do Norte” in 1919. The Municipal Library of Gondomar was subsequently named in his honour. Paperbound. Illustrated with photographs, engravings, and tables, including some fold-outs. Overall condition good; minor and occasional tears to the covers on some leaves without loss of support. Note: the first volume is the only one to carry an explicit indication of second edition; the third volume retains the imprint of the first edition (Imprensa Moderna, Pôrto, 1934); the second volume bears no imprint on the title page.