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Teaching with Images Between 19th and 20th Centuries: the Case of the Italian School Publisher Paravia

Fabio Targhetta

Résumé

Favoured by poverty of images in Schoolbooks and by a constant reference of programmes to their presence in class, the Italian production of wall paintings increased progressively, so much to be not only a significant area of educational planning, but also a rich field of economic investment.
This market has been managed for a long time by northern publishers, in particular by Vallardi (Milan) and, most of all, Paravia (Turin), the production of which covered all disciplines.
The paper wants to investigate the issue on two fronts: on the one hand the different kind of wall paintings, thier main characteristics and the review of this material in the light of new didactics and of changed political climate. On the other, the mode in which market was shared, the relations between producers and the different strategy of promotion in teachers’ journals. Sample was the case of Paravia: thanks to a broad promotional strategy and to its relations with the Ministry, it acquired a large slice of market during the first half of the 20th Century.

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Italy, Italie
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Vallardi’s contribution during the second half of xix Century

1The most updated historical studies in the field of education have paid considerable attention to the use of images in schools. Teaching practice concerning the use of images (pictures in school texts, wall charts, Magic Lantern glasses, slide projections, documentaries for educational purposes, and so on) is an expression of precise pedagogical and didactic choices.

  • 1 See the symposium organized in Rouen in 2009 (1st - 4th July) and entitled Pictures and teaching: i (...)

2This renewed interest stems from the belief that historical educational research must, as witnessed in recent years1, pay increasing attention to the study of teaching practices and educational trends, going beyond formal programme prescriptions, in order to unveil the empirical culture which was – and still is – a fundamental component of school education.

3Starting from this background, the present essay has a double aim. On one hand, it shall investigate on the reasons behind the gradual development of this particular typology of teaching tools (i.e., the iconic ones), comparing it with the prescriptions provided by the ministry of Public Education, and illustrating its didactic and pedagogical framework. On the other hand, it shall look in depth at the ways the market was divided among production firms, dedicating particular attention on Paravia. Indeed, thanks to its wide-ranging promotional campaign, and its relations with the ministry of Public Education, the Turin-based publishing house soon became the leading educational publisher in Italy.

  • 2 Regolamento per l’istruzione elementare, R.D. 15 September 1860, n. 4315.

4In the second half of the 19th century, many were the factors which fostered the dissemination of teaching tools supported by pictures in the Italian education system. The most influential one was the absence of illustration in school texts. Another factor was the call – contained from the very first ministerial provisions ever since Italy’s national unity – for schools to equip themselves with ad hoc wall posters. An interesting example of the latter is provided by the Rules for Primary Education2 issued in september 1860, which provided directions on the furniture and teaching material to be adopted by each and every class. Together with students and teachers’ desks, cupboards and stoves, the text also mandated the adoption of a chart displaying the basic units and the real measurements of the metric system. In addition, it prescribed the usage of « posters to teach how to read, in compliance with the official primer/spelling book» for lower classes, and «a globe, charts for the teaching of geography, especially the world map, and European and Italian maps; tables representing objects related to the basic elements of natural sciences » for higher classes.

  • 3 On this subject, see Patrizia Zamperlin, Pesi e misure, non solo una questione di numeri. L’insegna (...)
  • 4 Archivio di Stato di Torino (Turin State Archive) [hereinafter referred to as AS.to], Collezione ce (...)

5In line with the effort of adjustment to the new measurement system, pursued since 1845 by the Kingdom of Sardinia3, the metric system was in fact a widely covered subject. Popular education in this field was intense, and obtained through school teaching and the dissemination of booklets and « synoptic posters, representing life-size weights and measurements of the metric system4 », compiled mostly by the Brothers of the Christian Schools. They were actually encharged by the ministry of Agriculture and Trade and Turin municipality to lay out a series of teaching tools to spread the knowledge of the new measurements.

  • 5 Secondino Scaglione, «Un trentennio di editoria scolastica lasalliana», Rivista lasalliana 2 /1998, (...)

6A particularly successful work was the Great Wall Chart of Weights and Measurements, reprinted seven times between 1849 and 1865, reaching a total number of 6500 copies5.

7As concerns teaching tools for the metric system, the Lasallians’ contribution was considerable. Their Synoptic and Demonstrative Poster of Weights and Measures provided a model for later, and sometimes long-lasting, reproductions.

  • 6 See Patrizia Savio, «I Fratelli delle Scuole Cristiane autori ed editori per la scuola», History of (...)
  • 7 As for the future and catalogues of these firms, see Teseo. Tipografi e editori scolastico-educativ (...)
  • 8 Patrizia Zamperlin, Pesi e misure, non solo una questione di numeri, p. 18.

8Given this intense and successful publishing activity6, until the 1920s the Brothers invested the main printing and publishing houses of Turin, including Pomba, Paravia, Marietti, and the Stamperia sociale degli artisti tipografi7, with the task of printing books and wall charts, while keeping the copyrights. Another Turin-based lithography house, managed by the Doyen brothers, became specialized in the printing of wall charts and maps. Their Chart of Weights and Measures produced in 1847, followed the Lasallian model. The table (63 x 80 cm) reproduced the new measurements (weights and containers for the capacity of liquids and solids, various kinds of scales and, on the lower margin, the representation of a meter « folding up in ten parts8 ».

9A similar layout, with an improved design and richer contents, was adopted by Milan publisher Antonio Vallardi in its 1888 wall poster.

Sistema metrico decimale, polychrome wall chart cm. 62 x 92, Milano, Vallardi, undated (1888).

© Museo dell’Educazione, Università degli Studi di Padova

  • 9 Istruzioni e programmi per le scuole elementari, R.D. 25 settembre 1888, n. 5724.

10On that same year, new primary school curricula had prompted schools to equip themselves with specific weights and measures charts9.

11Together with scale boxes, one litre and one decilitre-measuring tins, soft and hard measuring tapes, a cardboard decimetre cube model and its multiples, Vallardi’s supply included a large wall chart (150 x 120 cm) available in three versions: loose, printed on canvas and supported by bars, and painted.

12Thanks to the large coloured illustrations, detailed captions, and reference charts displaying old measurements, the Vallardi wall poster soon became one of the most complete ones. Its reduced version too, whose length hardly reached one meter, was equally clear and effective, despite lacking the reference tables and long captions which were replaced instead by simple descriptions of the represented objects.

13The layout of the elements, inspired by the Lasallian model, was taken as an example, and very often reproduced. The poster produced by Vallardi in 1960 differs only slightly from the previous one dated from almost a century before, though it provided updated illustrations, such as that of the thermometer and of capacity-measuring containers.

Misure metriche, polychrome wall chart cm. 70 x 98, Milano, Vallardi, undated (1960).

© Museo dell’Educazione, Università degli Studi di Padova

14The accuracy and variety of teaching tools, especially prints, distributed by Vallardi can be explained by the long lasting experience of the Milan-based publisher. In 1843, Antonio Vallardi (1813-1876) took up his family’s involvement in the book industry since 1745, and replaced his mother in managing the family shop, originally specialized in religious and ascetic prints, introducing the sale of books, maps, frames, and antiques.

  • 10 On Vallardi's school publications and history, see Giorgio Chiosso, Teseo, n. 577.

15His interest toward the education sector grew later on; one of his first educational publications was the series of maps designed in 1872 by Ernest Sergent Marceau.
The 1870s witnessed the intense commitment of Vallardi in the educational field, as testified by the wide range of regularly updated teaching tools, which became one of the most conspicuous features of Vallardi’s catalogue until the new century. Together with school furnishing, tools for scientific teaching, and globes, Vallardi’s main strength consisted in wall charts, which included maps, natural sciences charts, illustrated table, and patriotic-themed paintings, which portrayed historical scenes or prominent figures of the Italian Risorgimento
10.

16Another element which contributed to the gradual specialization of Vallardi’s was the dissemination across Italy of the Positivist pedagogical dictates. Indeed, objective teaching required a regular use of images and collections of objects, thanks to which names and functions could be easily memorized.

17A key role, especially in the production of “school museums” for objective teaching, was played by European countries where the Positivist culture had been established for a considerable time, in particular France and Belgium.

18Indeed, France and its capital city Paris hosted the 1878 Universal Exposition. Far from being an useless show of “industrial revanchisme”, the xix century World’s Fairs were an important opportunity for comparison between nations, and for this reason national governments paid special attention to the preparations of their pavilions.

  • 11 C.M. 4 aprile 1877, n. 522.

19On that occasion, Italian minister for Public Education Michele Coppino ordered that the Italian education system should be represented « in the most complete and dignified manner ». To that intent, he invited the main Italian publishers to send their best essays on public teaching, not only books and manuals, but also charts and « representative tools used in the teaching of geography (collections of models, wall charts and maps, collections of atlases and school manuals, apparatuses, models, globes and reliefs) »11.

  • 12 The model (2.10 m) was made by artillery major Claudio Cherubini and Italy.
  • 13 «La scuola alla Mostra universale di Parigi del 1878», Bollettino Ufficiale del Ministero della Pub (...)

20Despite efforts and the great success obtained by Paravia for the presentation of one of the largest plastic models built until that time in Italy12, the judgment was overall negative. In a long article published in the Austrian journal called « Pedagogium », E. Scherdling, professor at the École polytechnique and the Lycée Charlemagne in Paris, made a comparison between the national stands, revealing peculiarities and weaknesses13. The Italian exposition was severely criticized for not having translated the catalogues, revealing a marked provincialism. It was also judged «incomplete, both in complex and in the organization» as well as presented in a «deplorable disorder».

The increase of Paravia success in the publishing of teaching tools

  • 14 «Alcune osservazioni sull’esposizione didattica di Torino nel 1884 di Aristide Gabelli», BUMPI XI/1 (...)

21The gap with other European countries decreased gradually between the 70s and 80s of xix century, most of all thanks to the efforts of Paravia and Vallardi. The development of this field of school production was constant in Italy, as noted also by Gabelli at the Didactic Exposition hosted in Turin in 188414. In that occasion, the well-known pedagogy expert noticed for the first time the abundance of Italian educational material, including teaching tools and historical charts.

  • 15 Relazione della ditta G.B. Paravia e C. presentata agli onorevoli giurati e visitatori della Esposi (...)

22Paravia played a key role in the field, presenting a wide range of teaching tools: from alphabet books to abacuses, from natural sciences wall charts to illustrated nomenclatures, from maps to plastics. Particular success among visitors of the Exhibition and experts was obtained by a two meter-large globe designed by Turin cartographer Guido Cora, and the 180 natural sciences iconographic tables by Ludovico Bellardi15.

  • 16 Enzo Baratelli, «Il materiale scolastico creato da Innocenzo Vigliardi-Paravia», Paraviana [hereina (...)
  • 17 See Paola Casana Testore, La Casa Editrice Paravia. Due secoli di attività: 1802-1984, Torino, Para (...)

23Paravia’s leadership in the field laid its roots deep in the past. Innocenzo Vigliardi Paravia (1822-1896) had chosen to support the development of the publishing house, bought in 1851, through the commerce of teaching tools16. It was his eldest son Carlo (1845-1919), sent abroad by his father to study the most updated materials and production techniques, who gave impetus to this branch of activity17.

24Carlo Vigliardi Paravia trained in France, a model of inspiration for Italy in the educational field, as often confirmed in the pages of the «Official Bulletin of the Ministry for Public Education». In June 1882, for example, it issued the results of a research published on the «Revue Scientifique» conducted by Dr. Gabriel, who led a ministerial commission for eyesight health in schools – launched, indeed, in France.

  • 18 «Igiene scolastica», BUMPI VIII/1882, pp. 566-568.

25The commission established that, for a correct displaying, a geographical map hung vertically one metre far from a source of light could be read by the standard eye at the minimum distance of 40 centimetres. However, the commission did not succeed in setting criteria for wall posters, since the size of the font required to read the captions from a distance would have been too large18.

  • 19 On this subject, see Annie Rononciat (ed.), Voir/Savoir: La pédagogie par l’image au temps de l’imp (...)

26Another sign of France’s advancement in the educational field and, in particular, in the production of teaching materials for objective teaching19, is given by a detailed relation submitted in 1888 by Antonio Labriola to the ministry of Education. In those years, the renowned philosopher, former director of Rome’s Museum of Teaching and Education, worked as ordinary professor of Moral Philosophy and Pedagogy and was the director of the Pedagogy cabinet at the University of Rome. He was then appointed of leading a commission, created in 1885, charged with the outlining the teaching and scientific materials that all elementary and regular schools of the Italian Kingdom would be called to adopt.

27In light of the educational experience and reputation of the commission members, the text is to be considered not only an explicit application of the Ministry’s provisions, but also one of the most authoritative and relevant reflections in the pedagogical field produced in Italy in the last years of the 19th century.

28In compliance with the most updated didactic trends, the Commission carried out a careful analysis of teaching tools – both those produced in Italy and imported from abroad –, so as to assess how Italy could take inspiration from foreign teaching tools, and how to increase the production of brand new ones.

  • 20 Roberto Almagià, «Necrologio», Rivista Geografica Italiana 1/1918, p. 42; Paola Sereno, Alle origin (...)

29As for the teaching of Geography, the Commission identified a number of wall maps of Italy and the continents, such as those included in the series edited by Cora for Paravia. Guido Cora20 was one of the most renowned geographers of the second half of the 18th century in Italy. He trained at the Petermann’s school in Gotha, and was fascinated by Justus Perthes, the founder of the well-known publisher of maps and atlases, distributed for several decades across Italian schools. To fulfil his aim of importing the Turingen model into Turin, Cora launched a long-lasting partnership with Paravia, whose main output was the production of globes, maps and atlases for educational purposes.

30All other geographical maps prescribed by the Commission were published by Paravia. Among them, the four wall charts of Cosmography and Astronomy (105 x 75 cm, on canvas), with captions by Pasquale Fornari; the expensive silent map of Italy’s mountain and waters designed by Coban, and sold at the then exorbitant price of 20 liras; and the chart for the teaching of geographical signs and names, by Colombetti.

31The leadership of Paravia is also visible in the wide range of teaching tools for Natural Sciences: from the five coloured wall charts printed in lithography, for the general teaching of the vegetable world, to the ten wall charts of the animal world by Francesco Gazzetti.

32The Commission also made reference to Paravia’s didactic collections, which however did not reach the richness in contents of the Musée scolaire pour leçons de choses, monothematic briefcase for the objective teaching produced in France and taken as a model by the Commission.

33Only a few years later, in 1894, programmes explicitly voiced to the need for schools to equip the three last elementary classes of ad-hoc charts displaying the most important events of Italian history.

34This guideline matched the gradual end-of-century reactionary involution, which had an impact on the educational system too. Minister Baccelli adjusted the new educational provisions to an ideal school, considered first of all as a place where to teach students good manners, rather than to give them a proper education. Indeed, the objective to train the “hardworking gentleman” required the transmission of some fundamental values, such as the respect for order and authority, patriotism, parental respect, religious devotion, and obedient hard work. As a consequence, the Minister also prescribed the adoption of posters which portrayed « facts and examples from real life », a very effective vehicle of transmission of moral values and bourgeois conformism.

35A fitting example is the end-of-century Paravia collection, which included a polychrome wall poster called The Departure of the Soldiers.

La partenza dei coscritti, polychrome wall chart cm. 73 x 49, Torino, Paravia, undated (1888).

© Museo dell’Educazione, Università degli Studi di Padova

36The scene, inspired by the “God, Homeland, and Family” triplet, displayed in great details a topos widely disseminated across school texts, which testified the strong link between the two teaching tools, and the intentional continuity between words and images.

37The Paravia collection was completed by the new posters for the teaching of Greek, Roman and Italian history, as well as several geographical maps, posters portraying scenes of family life, children’s life, notions and moral teachings, and so on. This branch grew at such a consistent pace that, for the 1894-95 school year, Paravia’s catalogue was composed of no less than 60 pages of history and geography teaching tools divided into 14 sections.

38Posters on moral education were of particular relevance for their role of transmission of the bourgeois ideology full of values, symbols and models. For instance, the Paravia poster dedicated to True Nobleness depicted one of the first moral duties of wealthier classes, charity.

La vera nobiltà, polychrome wall chart cm. 49 x 66, Torino, Paravia, undated.

© Museo dell’Educazione, Università degli Studi di Padova

39The poster portrayed a child, accompanied by his mother, a noble-looking lady, donating a parcel to a poor lady fostering a sick child. The misery of the setting, the absence of frills, the presence of an old grandfather leaning on the threshold, made the scene particularly moving.

Not only wall charts: the production of images for light projections

40At the end of the xix Century the style of some wall charts, particularly of those involved with the moral teachings, changed.

Una grata sorpresa, Torino, Unione dei Maestri, undated. Example of a new style of pictures, similar to that of the Magic lantern.

© Museo dell’Educazione, Università degli Studi di Padova

  • 21 On this subject see Luisa Lombardi, «Il metodo visivo in Italia. Le proiezioni luminose nella scuol (...)

41It was an attempt to approach the style of Magic Lantern glasses, the images for fixed and animated light projections and first film productions which were able to create a completely different impact among young spectators21.

  • 22 C.M. (Ministerial Circular) 31 December 1917, n. 2. Note that only two circulars were issued in 191 (...)

42The Ministry too became aware of the great impact the new teaching tools had on young students, so much so that it took advantage of it during one of the most tragic moments of Italian history. Immediately after the Caporetto defeat, on 31st December 1917, the Ministry established that a series of weekly lectures on the ongoing conflict would take place, in order to «strengthen and revitalize the patriotism of young secondary school students»22. Lectures would focus on «the reasons behind our [Italy’s] war», with particular reference to the «great economic, political, military, and moral issues which surrounded it».

  • 23 C.M. 12 November 1918, n. 59.
  • 24 C.M. 1 December 1923, n. 105, in BUMPI 55/1923, pp. 4904-4923. The document also contained the data (...)
  • 25 «Orari, programmi e prescrizioni didattiche per le scuole elementari, in applicazione del R.D. 1° o (...)

43To support the patriotism lectures over 500 slides were made available23.
Fixed images on wall posters were gradually replaced by the projection of fixed and moving light images, considered as particularly suited to awake patriotism among young souls.
The trend followed by the Ministry was further strengthened in 1923 with the dissemination of an official communication which disciplined the adoption of light projections at school
24 and ordered the mandatory adoption of a fixed or moving image projector for each educational district25.

  • 26 See Fabio Targhetta, «Sviluppi e ridimensionamento di un’egemonia industriale: l’editoria scolastic (...)

44Turin, which had already established itself as the capital city of educational publishing26 and the leading producer of teaching tools, quickly saw the potential of this new investment. After witnessing the first attempts to apply the use of light projections in the teaching sector, in 1923 the city hosted the first congress on the subject, organized by the Italian Institute for Light Projections, based, needless to say, in the Piedmont capital city.

  • 27 See «Le proiezioni luminose fisse ed animate, nella scuola moderna», PAR 5/1925, p. 116.

45In addition, Turin hosted the International Photography, Optics and Cinematography Exhibition, where Paravia played an important part. While it did not become directly involved in the production of new visual tools, Paravia was invited to set up a sample classroom inside the stand of the Italian Institute for Light Projections, obtaining a great advertising success27.

46This operation symbolizes the great promotional potential of Paravia, and its all-round connections. Thanks to its preferred relation with the Ministry of Public Education since Italy’s unity, Paravia had perfectioned its ability to create relations with official institutions across the years, following a spiral model which started locally (didactic directors, school deans, inspectors) and continued centrally (directors of education, ministerial commissions, and the ministry of Public Education).

47On a few occasions, Paravia was also able to influence ministerial provisions. In 1923, for example, the new primary school programmes mandated the adoption in all fourth-year classes of Ancient History wall posters.

  • 28 «Una confidenza», L'Italia che scrive [hereinafter called ICS] 2/1919, p. 22.

48As a consequence, Paravia took great profit from the Ministry’s provisions; indeed, a few years earlier, it had started distributing a series of charts called The History of Italy Portrayed in Art Works, which were conceived with the aim of promoting the main historical Italian events, as well as Italy’s great painting heritage28.

  • 29 The map (210 x 180 cm) contained the places of Risorgimento or important battlefields, underlined i (...)

49In other situations, Paravia managed to obtain the Ministry’s stamp of approval on its production, which the Turin-based publisher widely advertised. This was the case of the map of Italy, curated by Paolo Revelli, praised by the Educational Department of Rome’s municipal schools29.

  • 30 PAR 10/1923, p. 240.

50Similarly, the Ministry of Public Education approved the adoption of patriotic and geography-themed aprons, featuring patterns related to Fascism or the map of Italy30.

  • 31 PAR 3/1923, p. 69.

51This initiative was part of a strategy aimed at obtaining the support of the new political establishment: first, by strengthening the patriotic dimension of the product; then, once Fascism became a regime, adjusting the catalogue to the symbols of Fascist ideology. The production of an Italian flag, whose adoption was recommended across each and every school, even the most remote one, was prescribed by a circular signed in 1923 by the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Public Education. And with its ten different versions of the flag, Paravia was able to fulfil even the most peculiar needs, offering a wide range of prices and sizes31.

The relations between Paravia and the fascist regime

  • 32 On Paravia's relation with the Fascist regime see Fabio Targhetta, La capitale dell’impero di carta (...)
  • 33 Advertised on ICS 1/1935, p. 23.
  • 34 ICS 1-2/1937, p. 37.
  • 35 ICS 1/1939, p. 29.

52Following a well-established trend in the publishing sector, the best and more orthodox works were sent straight to Mussolini, eager to provide economic subsidies to the more aligned publishing houses32. Paravia also sent the annual illustrated themed calendar, which was distributed for free across primary and secondary schools. Themes included the exaltation of the Italic character33, the commemoration of martyrs of the Empire, the presentation of the powerful Italian army34, autarchy, the strengthening of the productive labour force, and the bimonthly posters portraying « the typical expression of the fight for the integrity of the race »35.

  • 36 PAR 1/1933, back cover.

53In compliance with the 1923 ministerial programmes, another regular topic seen across Paravia’s production was colonization, which foresaw the presence of wall maps of Italy’s colonies in all classes. In March 1926, a circular by Minister Fedele stressed the concept, prompting teachers to hold conference and show students « the level of maturity reached by our Country in the field of conquest and colonization », as well as increase their « trust in our colonial future ». Paravia quickly took the lead, and created six decorative stripes sized 140 x 50 cm portraying two colonial subjects on each one36.

  • 37 PAR 2/1928, p. 44.

54The more traditional map of Italian Colonies, set up in the large 115 x 170 cm format, was available at the price of 22 liras for a loose sheet, and 60 liras for the framed canvas one37. The map, which contained two distinct boxes featuring the Italian Aegean isles, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, was curated by Roberto Almagià, ordinary professor of Political and Economic Geography at the University of Rome.

  • 38 PAR 6-7/1927, p. 17.

55Almagià, who, after racial laws were issued entered the list of unwanted authors in Italy, cooperated to other map publications by Paravia, such as the brand new series of physical and political wall charts. Printed on square sheets measuring 215 cm, the maps obtained a great success, not only in Italy but also abroad, where they were printed in special editions with French and German names38.

56In Italy, their distribution was supported by the ministry of Public Education which purchased a significant batch and distributed them across a number of schools.

  • 39 AS.to, Gabinetto di Prefettura, b. 208/2, f. 7 (Paravia).

57Paravia’s alignment with Fascism was a strategic choice, as considered beneficial for the commercial development of the company. Indeed, Paravia benefited from the Ministry’s support not only in the Italian market, but also abroad, particularly in colonized countries. The global dimension of Paravia was testified by payment receipts, kept at Turin’s State Archive, by the Directorate for Civil and Political Affairs of Asmara and by the Government of Libya39.

58Needless to say, Paravia’s production of teaching tools was not limited to propaganda-influenced ones. During the 1920s and 30s, its production of educational material increased considerably, until it became a particularly significant item of the company’s turnover.

  • 40 PAR 3/1922, p. 71. See also ICS 4/1920, p. 67.
  • 41 PAR 4/1923, p. 76.
  • 42 PAR 6-7/1928, p. 147. See also the advertisement of the three coloured tables dedicated to the Dama (...)
  • 43 ICS 2/1921.
  • 44 ICS 8/1921, p. 172.

59Paravia also participated in the production of illustrated tables and wall posters: from those dedicated to vegetable organography, and the figured representation of all botanic species40 to the twelve wall coloured charts for the teaching of Ancient, Medieval and Modern History41 ; from the radioscopic charts of Human Anatomy and human anatomic iconography, to the Hygiene Education ones42 ; from a Mural Art training course divided into twenty tables43 to « the first decoration for Italian classrooms »44.

60The educational publishing sector was bound to adopt even greater strategic importance in the reconstruction and re-launch of Paravia. Badly hit by allied bombings of 20th November 1942, the company’s plants and headquarters were destroyed by hundreds of sparks which reduced them into ashes.

61The first catalogues to be released after the company’s partial destruction, aptly called The rebirth series, were those dedicated to teaching tools and scientific material. Being only partially hit, the company’s departments dedicated to those production series managed shortly to resume works under the direction of Carlo Vigliardi Paravia. The lithography laboratories for the printing of geographical maps and wall posters were the first ones to restart production, allowing Paravia to regain, within only a few years, its leading role in the Italian publishing world.

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Notes

1 See the symposium organized in Rouen in 2009 (1st - 4th July) and entitled Pictures and teaching: international perspectives.

2 Regolamento per l’istruzione elementare, R.D. 15 September 1860, n. 4315.

3 On this subject, see Patrizia Zamperlin, Pesi e misure, non solo una questione di numeri. L’insegnamento del sistema metrico decimale dall’Unità ai nostri giorni, Padova, Imprimitur, 2000.

4 Archivio di Stato di Torino (Turin State Archive) [hereinafter referred to as AS.to], Collezione celerifera delle Leggi, 1848, 1322-1323.

5 Secondino Scaglione, «Un trentennio di editoria scolastica lasalliana», Rivista lasalliana 2 /1998, p. 115.

6 See Patrizia Savio, «I Fratelli delle Scuole Cristiane autori ed editori per la scuola», History of Education & Children’s Literature 2 /2007, pp. 79-100 and Teseo ‘900. Editori scolastico-educativi del primo Novecento, Giorgio Chiosso (ed.), Milano, Editrice Bibliografica, 2008, n. 1.

7 As for the future and catalogues of these firms, see Teseo. Tipografi e editori scolastico-educativi dell’Ottocento, Giorgio Chiosso (ed.), Milano, Editrice Bibliografica, 2003, nn. 431, 406, 325, 543. On Paravia see also Fabio Targhetta, «Tra riorganizzazione industriale e sviluppo editoriale: la casa editrice Paravia tra le due guerre», History of Education & Children’s Literature 2 /2006, pp. 209-229.

8 Patrizia Zamperlin, Pesi e misure, non solo una questione di numeri, p. 18.

9 Istruzioni e programmi per le scuole elementari, R.D. 25 settembre 1888, n. 5724.

10 On Vallardi's school publications and history, see Giorgio Chiosso, Teseo, n. 577.

11 C.M. 4 aprile 1877, n. 522.

12 The model (2.10 m) was made by artillery major Claudio Cherubini and Italy.

13 «La scuola alla Mostra universale di Parigi del 1878», Bollettino Ufficiale del Ministero della Pubblica Istruzione [hereinafter called BUMPI] 7/1880, pp. 743-773.

14 «Alcune osservazioni sull’esposizione didattica di Torino nel 1884 di Aristide Gabelli», BUMPI XI/1885, pp. 206-212.

15 Relazione della ditta G.B. Paravia e C. presentata agli onorevoli giurati e visitatori della Esposizione generale italiana, Torino, Paravia, 1884, pp. 10-13.

16 Enzo Baratelli, «Il materiale scolastico creato da Innocenzo Vigliardi-Paravia», Paraviana [hereinafter called PAR] 4/1922, pp. 86-87.

17 See Paola Casana Testore, La Casa Editrice Paravia. Due secoli di attività: 1802-1984, Torino, Paravia, 1984, p. 64.

18 «Igiene scolastica», BUMPI VIII/1882, pp. 566-568.

19 On this subject, see Annie Rononciat (ed.), Voir/Savoir: La pédagogie par l’image au temps de l’imprimé, du xvie au xxe siècle, CNDP, 2012.

20 Roberto Almagià, «Necrologio», Rivista Geografica Italiana 1/1918, p. 42; Paola Sereno, Alle origini della scuola di geografia dell’Ateneo torinese. Appunti per un progetto di ricerca, in Emanuela Casti (ed.), Arcangelo Ghisleri e il suo “clandestino” amore, Roma, Società Geografica Italiana, 2001.

21 On this subject see Luisa Lombardi, «Il metodo visivo in Italia. Le proiezioni luminose nella scuola elementare italiana (1908-1930)», History of Education & Children’s Literature 2/2010, pp. 149-172.

22 C.M. (Ministerial Circular) 31 December 1917, n. 2. Note that only two circulars were issued in 1917, stressing the importance covered by patriotic lectures.

23 C.M. 12 November 1918, n. 59.

24 C.M. 1 December 1923, n. 105, in BUMPI 55/1923, pp. 4904-4923. The document also contained the data of a deep investigation on the dissemination of light projectors across several provinces. It was followed by C.M. 13 September 1927, n. 87, which container a long detailed list of prescriptions and directions of use. See BUMPI 37/1927, pp. 3056-3154.

25 «Orari, programmi e prescrizioni didattiche per le scuole elementari, in applicazione del R.D. 1° ottobre 1923, n. 2185», BUMPI 51/1923, pp. 4590-4627.

26 See Fabio Targhetta, «Sviluppi e ridimensionamento di un’egemonia industriale: l’editoria scolastica torinese tra le due guerre», Scrinia. Rivista di archivistica, paleografia, diplomatica e scienze storiche 3/2007, pp. 97-113.

27 See «Le proiezioni luminose fisse ed animate, nella scuola moderna», PAR 5/1925, p. 116.

28 «Una confidenza», L'Italia che scrive [hereinafter called ICS] 2/1919, p. 22.

29 The map (210 x 180 cm) contained the places of Risorgimento or important battlefields, underlined in red. PAR 3/1928, p. 25.

30 PAR 10/1923, p. 240.

31 PAR 3/1923, p. 69.

32 On Paravia's relation with the Fascist regime see Fabio Targhetta, La capitale dell’impero di carta. Editori per la scuola a Torino nella prima metà del Novecento, Torino, SEI, 2007, pp. 30-41.

33 Advertised on ICS 1/1935, p. 23.

34 ICS 1-2/1937, p. 37.

35 ICS 1/1939, p. 29.

36 PAR 1/1933, back cover.

37 PAR 2/1928, p. 44.

38 PAR 6-7/1927, p. 17.

39 AS.to, Gabinetto di Prefettura, b. 208/2, f. 7 (Paravia).

40 PAR 3/1922, p. 71. See also ICS 4/1920, p. 67.

41 PAR 4/1923, p. 76.

42 PAR 6-7/1928, p. 147. See also the advertisement of the three coloured tables dedicated to the Damages Caused by Alcohol (Danni dell’alcolismo) in PAR 9/1929, p. 152.

43 ICS 2/1921.

44 ICS 8/1921, p. 172.

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Table des illustrations

Légende Sistema metrico decimale, polychrome wall chart cm. 62 x 92, Milano, Vallardi, undated (1888).
URL http://journals.openedition.org/strenae/docannexe/image/1392/img-1.jpg
Fichier image/jpeg, 4,2M
Légende Misure metriche, polychrome wall chart cm. 70 x 98, Milano, Vallardi, undated (1960).
URL http://journals.openedition.org/strenae/docannexe/image/1392/img-2.jpg
Fichier image/jpeg, 5,3M
Légende La partenza dei coscritti, polychrome wall chart cm. 73 x 49, Torino, Paravia, undated (1888).
URL http://journals.openedition.org/strenae/docannexe/image/1392/img-3.jpg
Fichier image/jpeg, 7,1M
Légende La vera nobiltà, polychrome wall chart cm. 49 x 66, Torino, Paravia, undated.
URL http://journals.openedition.org/strenae/docannexe/image/1392/img-4.jpg
Fichier image/jpeg, 4,4M
Légende Una grata sorpresa, Torino, Unione dei Maestri, undated. Example of a new style of pictures, similar to that of the Magic lantern.
URL http://journals.openedition.org/strenae/docannexe/image/1392/img-5.jpg
Fichier image/jpeg, 179k
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Référence électronique

Fabio Targhetta, « Teaching with Images Between 19th and 20th Centuries: the Case of the Italian School Publisher Paravia »Strenæ [En ligne], 8 | 2015, mis en ligne le 01 mars 2015, consulté le 19 mars 2024. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/strenae/1392 ; DOI : https://doi.org/10.4000/strenae.1392

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Auteur

Fabio Targhetta

University of Padua, FISPPA Department
PhD, Research fellow

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