Bordalo Boto Collection
Álvaro BordaloPersonal libraries
This collection is composed of books, newspapers and magazines and some manuscripts by 20th century Portuguese authors. Gathered during his lifetime by Álvaro Bordalo (1909-1986), a bibliophile from Porto, this collection is fundamental to the study of graphic design and literary illustration in Portugal and was donated to the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in 1986 by Álvaro Bordalo himself.
A collection consisting of the library of bibliophile Álvaro Bordalo, comprising 30,125 monographs and 1,230 newspaper and magazine titles by Portuguese authors, published between the end of the 19th century and the 1980s.
It contains a significant number of first editions, numbered editions and copies with dedications and autographs by the authors. This collection includes many of the books and authors censored during the Estado Novo regime.
The collection also includes around 960 documents: correspondence, receipts, typographical proofs, press cuttings, business cards and photographs.
The collection Bordalo Boto was donated to the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in July 1986 by Álvaro Bordalo and is available for consultation.