If DRA were to be edited with the same criteria used in other works left unpublished by Leite, namely Etnografia Portuguesa, then a large part of its contents ought to be seen as mere notes pointing to further research to be undertaken by the editor, or as references to be checked and transcribed as quotations. At some point, a decision would have to be made about new writing, either of editorial additions aimed at establishing connections between fragments, or of updates and corrections needed by Leite’s sources and opinions.
This edition does nothing of this. Transcription developed at two levels: the first consisted of an almost paleographical transcription of each separate entry (card), with abbreviations developed, some regularizing of conventions and presentation. A distinction is made between autographs and entries redacted by other hands: all non-autograph material fits inside square brackets. At the second level, an attempt is made at the fusion of several entries headed by the same word. The fact that the same data reappear in some of those entries calls for some economy; still, the entity of each entry is kept, as they are numbered.
Conjectural readings are indicated by an asterisc (*) and impossible readings by a crux (†). Italics replace underlined words.
Some entries, specially of ethnographical interest, have drawings and graphics, which will be at a later date included in this edition.
This edition is not a finished work, as Leite’s own manuscripts certainly weren’t.
