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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 April 2010
No doubt few countries in the world are as centralized as Argentina. Most important activities take place in the Capital, Buenos Aires, a giant, sprawling megalopolis of about fifteen million inhabitants. Like government and business, historical research is carried out chiefly here. Indeed, there is no shortage of libraries and archives in Buenos Aires, but it takes quite some planning to make good use of these facilities.
1 Instituto de Historia Argentina y Americana ‘Ravignani, Dr. Emilio’, founded in 1921, enjoys merited fame for its fine document editions. These include Mayo Documental (12 vols; 1961–1965) and Archivo del Brigadier GeneralJuan Facundo Quiroga (4 vols. so far). library has close to 30,000 volumes.Google Scholar
2 Archivo General de la Nación, Indice temdtico general de unidades archivonómicas del período Nacional-Gobiemo (Buenos Aires 1977);Google ScholarIndice temático general de unidades archivonómicas Período Colonial-Gobiemo (Buenos Aires 1978).Google Scholar
3 The Roca papers are notoriously deficient in many respects. While much can be inferred from the careful scrutiny of other collections, important gaps still remain. Félix Luna has, however, intelligently filled these in through plausible deduction, in anextremely vivid and well-written half-fictionalized biography of th‘Fox’ as Roca was called: Soy Roca (Buenos Aires 1990).Google Scholar
4 Actually, archives outside Argentina may sometimes provide a better hunting ground for the economic and social historian. Examples are the holdings of the Internationaal Instituut voor SocialeGeschiedenis (International Institute for Social History) in Amsterdam; the Bank of England Archives in London, and the archives of the former Bank of Baring Bros, in Canada. As for libraries, the situation in Buenos Aires is slightly better, with the collections of the Instituto Torcuato di Telia (60,000 vols.) and the Tornquist Library (50,000 vols.).
5 Plaza Rocha 137, 1900 La Plata.
6 There is a useful guide to Argentine archives, comprising a detailed overview of all state and provincial repositories: Boletín lnteramerica.no de Archivos 8 (1981), published under the auspices of the Córdoba school of archives.Google Scholar
7 The relative cheapness of books in Argentina makes it quite attractive to buy books, either new or second hand. The best address for works on history is Librería Platero, Talcahuano 485 in Buenos Aires, just around the corner from busy Corrientes avenue, where many bookstores do not even close until after midnight. Good but quite expensive is Fernández Blanco, on Tucumán 712.
8 See Bushnell, David, ‘South America’, Hispanic American Historical Review 65: 1 (1985) 775Google Scholar