Chorography
Original title: Corografia
Surveys the published works on the chorography (regional geography) of the Madeira archipelago, from Nóbrega Soares's school textbook of 1862 to Sarmento's and Silva's studies of the 1910s–1930s, and argues for teaching the subject in local schools.
For the study of the chorography of this archipelago and of each of its islands, besides the material scattered through various works, notably the Diccionario Universal Portugues illustrado, the following booklets have been published: Chorographia da Madeira, by João de Nobrega Soares, first published in 1862, with the fourth and last edition in 1882; Chorographia do Archipelago da Madeira, by Dr Álvaro Rodrigues de Azevedo, 1873; and Corografia Elementar do Arquipelago da Madeira, by Major Alberto Artur Sarmento, 1912. The last is the most complete study we have on the subject.
As was done in years gone by, some elementary notions of the region’s chorography ought once again to be taught in the schools of this district. This teaching was at one time compulsory here: four editions of a regional chorography were produced within 20 years, for a population of little more than a hundred thousand inhabitants, among whom the rate of illiteracy was very high.
To serve as a textbook for teaching the chorography of Madeira in the schools of this archipelago, the Autonomous District General Council (Junta Geral) published in 1937 a new edition, much improved and adapted to that purpose, of the booklet by Lieutenant-Colonel Alberto Artur Sarmento, a most valuable work that well deserved to be reissued.
On the same subject, the co-author of this Elucidario, Father Fernando A. Silva, had published in 1934 a detailed study entitled Dicionario Corografico do Arquipelago da Madeira, in a volume of 310 pages.
In this article
Time
Years mentioned · 06-
The first edition of João de Nóbrega Soares's Chorographia da Madeira was published.
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Álvaro Rodrigues de Azevedo published in Funchal his annotated edition of Gaspar Frutuoso's Saudades da Terra (Book II), made from Agrela's copy, with extensive notes including a list of governors.
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The fourth and final edition of João de Nóbrega Soares's Chorographia da Madeira appeared.
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Alberto Artur Sarmento published his Corografia Elementar do Arquipélago da Madeira.
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Fernando Augusto da Silva published the Dicionário Corográfico do Arquipélago da Madeira.
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The Junta Geral Autónoma published an improved edition of Sarmento's chorography for schools.
Place
Places mentioned · 01People
People mentioned · 04- Alberto Artur Sarmentob. 1878
Army officer whose Corografia Elementar do Arquipelago da Madeira (1912, re-edited 1937) the Elucidário judges the most complete study of the subject.
- Álvaro Rodrigues de Azevedo1825–1898
Author of the Chorographia do Archipelago da Madeira, published in 1873.
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Co-author of the Elucidário, who published the Dicionário Corográfico do Arquipélago da Madeira in 1934.
- João de Nóbrega Soares1831–1890
Author of the Chorographia da Madeira, a school text published in four editions between 1862 and 1882.