In the 18th century, books regularly crossed the Atlantic, accompanying people, professional activities, religious practices and reading interests. The records produced by the institutions responsible for censorship and for authorising the circulation of printed matter allow us to trace some of these routes and, on that basis, to observe the integration of the Portuguese Atlantic islands into wider circuits of the circulation of written culture. This seminar takes as its starting point the requests for the transport of books relating to the Azores, preserved in the records of the Royal Censorship Board, to explore who was bringing books to the islands, which works were transported, under what circumstances and for what purposes. Rather than merely reconstructing libraries or identifying titles and authors, the aim is to consider the book as an object in motion and to use its journeys to explore the relationships between mobility, written culture and space. Taking the Azores as a case study, the aim is therefore to discuss the place of the islands within the circulation networks that linked different territories of the Portuguese world in the second half of the 18th century.

COORDINATION

José Vicente Serrão (CIES-ISCTE)

Graça Almeida Borges (CHAM)

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ORGANIZATION

Department of History at Iscte, CIES-Iscte, CHAM - NOVA FCSH