Brazil's foremost book keeper.

• Author: Page, Joseph A.
• Position: Book collector Jose E. Mindlin

IN 1747 LUIZ ANTONIO ROSADA DA CUNHA published a book that described the arrival in Brazil of a Roman Catholic bishop. This innocuous and otherwise forgettable tome turned out to be a milestone, because at that particular time, and throughout the first three centuries of Brazil's history, the Portuguese crown prohibited the operation of printing presses in this giant colony.

Relacao da Entrada Que Fez D.F. Antonio do Desterro Malhevro was composed on a clandestine press and was the first book ever published in Brazil. The authorities immediately suppressed its distribution, seized the press and expelled its owner from the country. It was not until May 13, 1808, after the Portuguese royal family had fled from Lisbon to escape Napoleon's invading army and had installed itself in Rio de Janeiro, that the first press lawfully arrived in Brazil and the first lawfully published text--a series of reports issued by the royal court--saw the light of day.

Today there are perhaps fewer than ten extant copies of Relacao da Entrada and only three remaining copies of the 1808 document. One of the former and two of the latter rest on shelves in the remarkable library of Jose E. Mindlin, a 78-year-old Sao Paulo industrialist and bibliophile who has painstakenly assembled one of the best and most extensive collections of rare books in the Hemisphere.

One would not expect to find this treasure trove in the residential neighborhood of Brooklin, which was named after but in no way resembles New York City's second most famous borough. Several miles removed from the bustle of downtown Sao Paulo, Brooklin nestles peacefully and inobtrusively within easy reach of the Congonhas Airport and the chic Morumbi Shopping Center. In a modest, wall-enclosed compound on a quiet side street, Mindlin's library of nearly 25,000 volumes gives Brooklin its claim to fame, albeit within a limited circle of cognoscente.

The collection is so large that it occupies several locations: the living-room of Mindlin's residence; two adjacent structures designed and built by one of his nephews who is an architect; and the rented second floor of a house across the street, where his wife Guita pursues her hobby--the restoration of old books. The first annex, constructed in 1965, is just above ground level, while the second, completed in 1985, is an underground cement bunker that effectively utilizes indirect lighting. In both there are dehumidifiers, air-heating devices specially designed to...