Brazil in 1712

Author:

Jeremy Black

Report:

14

Page:

147

Year:

1987

Subject Matter:

Portuguese Overseas

Excerpt:

What is possibly the earliest British newspaper account of Brazil can be found in a London paper of 1712. The intention of this note is to print it.

Interest in Brazil was clearly aroused in early 1712 by news of the French raid the previous year on Rio de Janeiro. The report in the paper was lengthy by the standards of the age, but, in accord with the practice of the period, it was anonymous and the source of the information was not given. The item appeared under a London byline in number 65 of the Protestant Post-Boy, an issue of the London newspaper that appeared on 31 January 1712. It is published as in the original and can be read here.