PRINTED KNOWLEDGE, CORRESPONDENCE AND SCIENTIFIC EXPEDITIONS:the Maranhão captainship and the Erudite Reformism in 19th century.

Abstract

Abstract: This  text  takes  asstarting point the sale of printed papers in São Luís’ city post office between  1799  and  1801,  inserting  it  in  the  Portuguese  guidelines  for  politic  of  scientific  knowledge diffusion  trough  distribution  printing,  sale  and  distribution  of  printed  material.Such  politic,  under command of D. Rodrigo de Sousa Coutinho, State secretary of Navy and Overseas, counted with the decisive  participation  Friar  José  Mariano  da  Conceição  Veloso,  responsible  for  translations  and printing of large amount of works: Veloso directed the Casa Literária do Arco do Cego between 1799 and 1801. I also consider the printed material that circulated out of Arco do Cego’s frame and arrived at Maranhão captainship after approved by the Royal Censorial Table. At last, I articulate this group of printed material to the correspondences exchanged between the captainship governor Diogo de Sousa and  the  secretary  Coutinho,  which  versed  around the issues of  scientific  knowledge  and  the  multiple ways  of  development  of  captainship  potency.  As  example  of  these  matters  I  analyze  the  context  of organization and development of the scientific expedition guided by Vicente Jorge Dias Cabral and the priest Joaquim José Pereira, who explored the captainship between 1799 and 1802.

Keywords: Maranhão. Erudite Reformism. Printed material .Correspondences. Scientific Expeditions.