FROM ITALY TO BRAZIL: EVIDENCE OF PRODUCTION, CIRCULATION AND CONSUMPTION OF READING BOOKS (1875-1945)

Abstract The objective of this article is to understand production, circulation, and consumption, in Brazil, of Italian school books sent to the so called Italian schools abroad, referring particularly to the collection organized by Clementina Bagagli. Contributions of Cultural History subsidize the documental analysis of didactic handbooks, in addition to other documents. I conclude circulation of books sent by Italian government was outstanding in school environments, especially in urban ones. I notice there were differences among didactic books in quantity and content resulting from policies practiced by Italy, being those during fascism, the most fruitful ones. Finally, there was preservation of reading and books, even if students went to public or confessional schools, with Portuguese teaching.