Collections of French Novels on the Atlantic Route: From Lisbon to Grêmio Literário Português do Pará

Abstract

Augusti discusses the emergence of Grêmio Literário Portuguese do Pará, a reading room established in 1867 in the city of Belém, the capital of Pará Province (Brazil). Focusing on the history of the institution, it discusses issues concerning its establishment, operation, and consolidation over the course of the nineteenth century. It also demonstrates that the institution acquired a significant part of its books thanks to the transatlantic trade with the Lisbon-based bookseller Antonio Maria Pereira, whose trade shipped books from Lisbon to Belém through British shipping companies and their steamboats. Finally, it demonstrates that the novel was one of the favourite genres of the reading public, which demonstrated a marked preference for French authors, published in ‘popular’ collections and sold at low prices.