Editing Rio de Janeiro (section)

===Literature===
{{Main|Literature of Brazil}}
[[File:AcademiaBrasileira1.jpg|thumb|[[Academia Brasileira de Letras|Brazilian Academy of Letters]]]]
[[File:Biblioteca nacional rio janeiro.jpg|thumb|[[National Library of Brazil]]]]
[[File:リオの幻想図書館_Real_Gabinete_Portugues_de_Leitura_(8735773218).jpg|thumb|[[Royal Portuguese Cabinet of Reading]]]]

After Brazilian independence from Portugal in 1822, Rio de Janeiro quickly developed a [[Culture of Europe|European-style]] bourgeois cultural life, including numerous newspapers, in which most 19th-century novels were initially published in serial. [[Joaquim Manuel de Macedo]]'s ''[[A Moreninha (novel)|A Moreninha]]'' (1844) was perhaps the first successful novel in Brazil and inaugurates a recurrent 19th-century theme: a romantic relationship between idealistic young people in spite of cruelties of social fortune.

The first notable work of realism focusing on the urban [[lower middle class|lower-middle class]] is [[Manuel Antônio de Almeida]]'s ''[[Memórias de um sargento de milícias]]'' (1854), which presents a series of picaresque scenes, and evokes the transformation of a town into a city with suggestive nostalgia. Romantic and realist modes both flourished through the late 19th century and often overlapped within works.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Piers Armstrong |title=Rio's novel history |url=http://cco.cambridge.org/extract?id=ccol0521825334_CCOL0521825334A008 |access-date=17 April 2010 |publisher=Cco.cambridge.org |archive-date=11 May 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511181501/http://cco.cambridge.org/extract?id=ccol0521825334_CCOL0521825334A008 |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Machado de Assis]] is from Rio de Janeiro, and is widely regarded as the greatest writer of [[Brazilian literature]]<ref>[[Antonio Candido|Candido; Antonio.]] (1970) ''Vários escritos.'' São Paulo: Duas Cidades. p.18.</ref> and considered the founder of [[Realism (arts)|Realism]] in Brazil, with the publication of ''[[The Posthumous Memoirs of Bras Cubas]]'' (1881).<ref>Faraco, Carlos Emílio e Moura, Francisco Mato. ''Português Projetos''. São Paulo: Editora Ática, 2009, p.227.</ref> He commented on and criticized the political and social events of the city and country such as the abolition of slavery in 1888 and the transition from [[Empire of Brazil|Empire]] to Republic with his numerous [[chronicle]]s published in newspapers of the time.<ref>Gledson, John. J. ''Machado de Assis, ficção e história''. Rio de Janeiro: Paz e Terra, 1986, p. 13.</ref> Many of his short stories and novels, like ''[[Quincas Borba]]'' (1891) and ''[[Dom Casmurro]]'' (1899), are placed in Rio. The headquarters of the [[Academia Brasileira de Letras|Brazilian Academy of Letters]] is based in Rio de Janeiro. It was satirized by the novelist [[Jorge Amado]] in ''[[Pen, Sword, Camisole]]''. Amado, himself, went on to be one of the 40 members of the academy.

The Biblioteca Nacional ([[National Library of Brazil]]) ranks as one of the largest libraries in the world. It is also the largest library in all of Latin America.<ref>{{Cite web |title=National Library of Rio de Janeiro |url=http://www.rio-de-janeiro.info/national-library.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100830173312/http://www.rio-de-janeiro.info/national-library.htm |archive-date=30 August 2010 |access-date=17 April 2010 |publisher=Rio-de-janeiro.info}}</ref> Located in [[Cinelândia]], the National Library was originally created by the King of Portugal, in 1810. As with many of Rio de Janeiro's cultural monuments, the library was originally off-limits to the general public. The most valuable collections in the library include: 4,300 items donated by Barbosa Machado including a precious collection of rare brochures detailing the [[History of Portugal]] and [[History of Brazil|Brazil]]; 2,365 items from the 17th and 18th centuries that were previously owned by Antônio de Araújo de Azevedo, the "Count of Barca", including the 125-volume set of prints "Le Grand Théâtre de l'Univers;" a collection of documents regarding the Jesuítica Province of Paraguay and the "Region of Prata;" and the Teresa Cristina Maria Collection, donated by [[Pedro II of Brazil|Emperor Pedro II]]. The collection contains 48,236 items. Individual items of special interest include a rare first edition of ''[[Os Lusíadas]]'' by [[Luís de Camões|Luis de Camões]], published in 1584; two copies of the Mogúncia Bible; and a first edition of Handel's Messiah.<ref>{{Cite web |date=25 August 2008 |title=Official website – National Library of Rio |url=http://www.bn.br/portal/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100328091608/http://www.bn.br/portal/ |archive-date=28 March 2010 |access-date=17 April 2010 |publisher=Bn.br}}</ref>

The Real Gabinete Português de Leitura (Portuguese Royal Reading Library) is located at Rua Luís de Camões, in the Centro (Downtown). The institution was founded in 1837 by a group of forty-three [[Portuguese people|Portuguese immigrants]], [[political refugee]]s, to promote culture among the Portuguese community in the then capital of the Empire. The history of the [[Academia Brasileira de Letras|Brazilian Academy of Letters]] is linked to the Real Gabinete, since some of the early meetings of the academy were held there.<ref>{{Cite web |date=28 May 2011 |title=Um pedaço de Portugal no Rio de Janeiro – Opinião e Notícia |url=http://opiniaoenoticia.com.br/cultura/um-pedaco-de-portugal-no-rio-de-janeiro/ |website=opiniaoenoticia.com.br |access-date=25 March 2016 |archive-date=24 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160424062952/http://opiniaoenoticia.com.br/cultura/um-pedaco-de-portugal-no-rio-de-janeiro/ |url-status=dead}}</ref>