Boxes 1-19 include a collection of 4100 Brazilian popular literary pamphlets known as "literature de cordel," a favorite reading of many in the country, especially in the Northeast. Genres in the collection include religious, romance, profane tales, and pelejas.

The Brazilian stories in verse called folhetos or literatura de cordel ("stories on a string") have for nearly a century been the primary reading material of the underclasses in the coventry's Northeast (mainly Pariba, Bahia, Ceará, Pernambuco, and Rio Grande do Norte), an area that contains approximatelyone third of Brazil's total population. today, this literature is among the world's richest and most varied heirs to the vernacular tradition of centuries old oral balladry, the European, and more specifically Portuguese Chapbook (including written ballads and astrological almanacs), religious material such as biblical stories and the medieval exemplum, and various African and Brazilian Native American elements.

24 boxes (12 linear ft.)

Property rights to the physical object belong to the UC Regents. Literary rights, including copyright, are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.

PARTIALLY PROCESSED COLLECTION UNAVAILABLE FOR USE: except for boxes 1-19. Inquiries regarding these materials should be directed, in writing, to the Manuscripts Librarian, UCLA Library Special Collections.