Posterity would reserve a curious fortune for the work of Octávio Tarquínio de Sousa. Although interest in it declined in academic circles in tandem with the loss of prestige of histories considered “factual,” as well as biographies of figures considered – not without a good dose of inaccuracy that accompanies this type of criticism – as “winners” of history, in non-academic circles his work continues to circulate, prestigious and easily accessible in libraries and bookstores in Brazil, and has even been reprinted several times. Part of its content has been widely used – sometimes almost copied – by various authors of historical works aimed at a broader and less specialised audience than academics. We would like to register our discomfort at the realisation that this use seems far from valuing the author’s emphasis on characters as catalysts for broader historical processes; on the contrary, it values what was least innovative about his biographical work at the time: the chronicle of private lives in their anecdotal and superficial dimension. This is yet another reason for an academic revival of Octávio Tarquínio de Sousa, which has only just begun.

Bibliografia activa : A mentalidade da Constituinte (3 de maio a 12 de novembro de 1823) , Rio de Janeiro, A. P. Barthel, 1931; Ernesto Psichari, neto de Renan , Rio de Janeiro, Tipografia do Jornal do Comércio, 1934; Bernardo Pereira de Vasconcelos e seu tempo , Rio de Janeiro, José Olympio, 1937; Evaristo da Veiga , São Paulo, Companhia Editora Nacional, 1939; História de dois golpes de Estado , Rio de Janeiro, José Olympio, 1939; Diogo Antônio Feijó (1784-1843) , Rio de Janeiro, José Olympio, 1942; José Bonifácio (1763-1838) , Rio de Janeiro, José Olympio, 1945; A vida de D. Pedro I , Rio de Janeiro, José Olympio, 1952, 3 v.; De várias províncias , Rio de Janeiro, Ministério da Educação e da Cultura, 1952; História dos fundadores do Império do Brasil , Rio de Janeiro, José Olympio, 1958, 10 v.

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