Greenlee, William Brooks

Chicago manufacturer, collector of early Portuguese books, Luzo-Brazilian scholar and Newberry Library Trustee.

Greenlee developed his interest in Portuguese history while studying under Professor Henry M. Stephen at Cornell University in the mid 1890's. Before returning to Chicago to join the family manufacturing firm, Greenlee Brothers & Co., Greenlee travelled extensively around the world and began his Portuguese collection. In 1937 Greenlee presented the collection to the Newberry Library. Besides continuing to build the collections in the 1930's and 1940's, Greenlee studied the history of the 16th century discovery of Brazil by the Portuguese which culminated in the 1938 Hakluyt Society publication of his The Voyage of Pedro Alvares Cabral to Brazil and India.

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