J. Martins de Carvalho supports the old concept of the ‘master story of life’ ( Apontamentos para a História Contemporânea [Notes for Contemporary History] , p. 43). From a liberal perspective, which has always been his, he constructs a detailed narrative of the political and military events that marked 19 th - century Portugal, gathering information that is relevant to understanding the Inquisition, secret societies , and the Coimbra press. A significant part of his press writings was part of a civic activity centred, in particular, on defending the interests of Coimbra, which due to its importance had a national impact and recognition.

The front page of O Conimbricense of 12 January 1895 reported the election of Joaquim Martins de Carvalho as a corresponding member of the Academia das Ciências de Lisboa. Teófilo Braga was in charge of writing the opinion on his application, in which he praised the applicant ’ s literary work and civic intervention, characterised by his defence of the parliamentary regime, public freedoms , and local interests. Teófilo Braga also refers to the high regard in which Martins de Carvalho was held by the late academic José Silvestre Ribeiro, from whom he had received valuable notes for the História dos Estabelecimentos Scientíficos, Litterários e Artísticos de Portugal [History of Scientific , Literary and Artistic Establishments in Portugal] . Considering O Conimbricense to be ‘an invaluable archive of facts and documents, an indispensable compass for all pioneers of national history’ , Marques Gomes ( O Conimbricense e a História Contemporânea, Publicação commemorativa do 50.º anniversario do mesmo jornal [The Conimbricense and Contemprary History, Commemorative publication of the 50 th anniversary of the same newspaper] , Aveiro, 1897) emphasised the work of ‘careful research’ recorded in the periodical, which alone was enough ‘to establish the reputation of a few historians’. The inestimable value of Martins de Carvalho ’ s newspaper, particularly for historical studies, justified Lopes de Almeida ’ s initiative, which was realised by José Pinto Loureiro: the publication of the Índice Ideográfico de ‘O Conimbricense’ [Ideographic Index of ‘O Conimbricense’] , Supplement to v ol. XXI of the Boletim da Biblioteca da Universidade [University library bulletin] , Coimbra, 1953. Francisco Augusto Martins de Carvalho, an army officer and bibliophile and renowned bibliographer, dedicated the work Algumas Horas na Minha Livraria, Artigos, Notas e Apontamentos [A few hours in my Bookshop, articles and notes] , Coimbra, Imprensa Académica, 1910, to the memory of his father Joaquim Martins de Carvalho .

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | (Pdf)