The Public Library of Évora has a rich and important collection of manuscripts
assembled by its founder, the Archbishop D. Manuel do Cenáculo and cataloged by
Cunha Rivara in the nineteenth century. A substantial part of this collection includes
the bibliographic heritage of the founder and the correspondence sent to him by several
national and foreign personalities. Nevertheless, part of the correspondence fund is not
included in the Correspondence Catalogue that Armando Guzmão assembled. The current
work examines two codices of unpublished letters that were not cataloged and were, thus, far unknown to the researchers. The letters were sent to the Archbishop Cenáculo
between 1772-1803, by Joaquim Sá, Regius Professor of Latin at the College of Nobles of
Lisbon and, by Alexandre Manuel, Secretary of the Royal Censorship Bureau. This work
aims to highlight the historical importance of this kind of primary source, namely the
documentary value to understand the political conjuncture at the end of ancient regime,
the educational reforms of the government of Pombal, the censorship of books and cultural
events, everyday life and mentalities in the eighteenth-century Portugal