The edition of correspondence to and from Eurico Thomaz de Lima

Abstract

This text reports on the project to edit the correspondence to and from Eurico Thomaz de Lima, based on the archive donated to the University of Minho. The project, which began with the photographing of all the epistolary units, has continued over the last four years with the editing of all the correspondence and with the sometimes complex reorganization of it, including trying to identify connections between dispersed units and searching for other units that seem to have gone astray. This article sets out an inventory of the correspondence already edited, in a semi-diplomatic transcription, which has the aim of respecting the original content and spelling, while at the same time making it more readable. It also lists all of the numerous correspondents, through whose voices come down to us multiple echoes of his genius, of his remarkable musical and professional career, but also of his family life and existential path. There is a focus initially on certain particularities of the guidance he received from his parents at the beginning of his career, to the extent that the letters tell us. They also reveal to us the general esteem in which his person, teaching work, school administration, creations and performances were held by his peers, as well as by other individuals from the musical but also literary, artistic and cultural scenes, particularly in Portugal and Brazil. These reactions and testimonies are themselves, in many cases, beautiful poetic and philosophical pieces that deserve to be known by the present-day reader.