Brasil.

I leave for Brazil (S.P. and Rio) today and will be there until the end of the month. While traveling I plan to use this blog as a clearinghouse for the interesting history-related things I find there, and for the occasional photo I take with my friend's fancy DSLR camera.

Inspired by my impending visit, I present some color illustrations from Jean-Baptiste Debret's famous and extremely out of print Voyage Pittoresque et Historique au Brésil (1834-39).

 "Valley of Serra do Mar (mountain chain near the sea)"

 "Family of a Camacan chief preparing for a feast."

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"Mummy of a Chief of Coroados" 

"Black slaves of different nations."

"Black hunters returning to town (left); the return of the slaves of a naturalist (right)."

For more on these images see this 2006 BibliOdyssey post on the Voyage Pictoresque, and for a complete, searchable database of all the images, see the New York Public Library's excellent Digital Gallery. 

Finally, here's a link to one of my favorite bands, Os Mutantes, then still teenagers, backing up Gilberto Gil and his song 'Domingo no Parque' on national television, circa 1966. Its a wonderful live performance -- highly recommended to anyone with an interest in Brazilian music, or just music in general.

Um abraço!