Academic publications first began to be collected in 1923 under the then president, Afrânio Peixoto, who created the Biblioteca de Cultura Nacional (Library of National Culture).

Indeed, in 1931 the library was renamed Coleção Afrânio Peixoto (Afrânio Peixoto Collection) in honor of its founder and director. It was divided into five sections: literature, history, bio-bibliography, unpublished works and speeches.

The Academia Brasileira de Letras has a publications archive which looks after these works, as well as the Austregésilo de Athayde collection and the Antônio Morais Silva collection, which publishes studies on the Portuguese language, philology, lexicology and lexicography.