Dr. José Pereira Ribeiro, attorney in Mariana, a University of Coimbra graduate, owned the most important illuminist library of Minas Gerais in the 18th century, more noteworthy in this regard (although a bit smaller) than the famous library belonging to canon Luís Vieira da Silva. Dr. Ribeiro's inventory comprises numerous books regarded as subversive and pernicious, many of them banned by public authorities and the Church.
