Bidspirit auction | PICÃO (José da Silva). ATRAVEZ

PICÃO (José da Silva). ATRAVEZ dos Campos: Usos e Costumes Agricolo-Alemtejanos (Concelho de Elvas). Elvas. 1903. - PICÃO (José da Silva) ATRAVEZ dos Campos: Usos e Costumes Agricolo-Alemtejanos (Concelho de Elvas) . Volume I. Elvas: Typographia Progresso, 1903. 256 pp.: il.; 235 mm. First edition, first volume (of two). José da Silva Picão (Santa Eulália, March 10, 1859 – May 18, 1922) was a writer, ethnographer, and farmer, born in the parish of Santa Eulália, in the municipality of Elvas. A self-taught man, he dedicated himself to the study of agricultural treatises and collaborated on the periodical *O Elvense* , under the pseudonym João Chaparro, also publishing articles in * Portugália* under the title ”Ethnography of the Upper Alentejo (municipality of Elvas)”. *Atravez dos Campos* is his main work: a comprehensive ethnographic study of the customs and traditions of the Alentejo countryside, rigorously describing the estates, the hills, the woodlands, the activities of the farmers and peasants, the agricultural implements, and the work in the fields. It was considered by Leite de Vasconcelos as one of the great ethnographic works of the time. António Sardinha wrote of it: ”It is not only a work of ethnography – detailed and full of color. As well as being a perfect breviary of the agrarian economy of the Alto Alentejo, it also holds within its pages some of the most beautiful and crystalline pieces of Portuguese prose.” Picão died in 1922, leaving the work incomplete; his publisher, Torres de Carvalho, nevertheless managed to compile two volumes: the first in 1903 and the second in 1905, totaling nine chapters. The first edition quickly sold out; the second, which combined the two volumes into a single tome, was published in 1947; a third edition, also in a single volume, was published by Dom Quixote in 1983. This copy contains only Volume I. Volume II (1905) is missing. Rare and sought after. ⚑ Auto-translated via Google Translate