Critical analysis of the memorial bibliography on Legal Education in the imperial period (1827-1889)

the tradições e reminiscências

Abstract

The article provides a critical analysis of José Luís Almeida Nogueira’s work entitled A Academia de São Paulo: tradições e reminiscências, estudantes, estudantões, estudantadas, whose first edition was published in 9 volumes between 1907-12. The analysis traces back how the book was produced, the motivations of the author for writing it, examines its structure and raises further relevant questions. Our aim is to scrutinize if the book is a safe historical source for researchers on legal education in imperial Brazil, since it is commonly used in studies in the History of Law. We conclude that it is an important book for the history of the city of São Paulo and the São Paulo Law School as well as for the history of Brazilian politics and law. Bu it should be used with caution, as it presents the following problems: its sources and methodology are not always clear; it is difficult to check the veracity of facts; it focus only on figures close to the author and on “great names” of the Brazilian law; it lacks systematization; and, since it is an unfinished book, it presents gaps to be filled.