“These books were my sons”

analysis of a personal library

Abstract

This article thematises a documental series composed of twenty-five books owned to “Biblioteca das Moças”, donated by its books collector. It has as objective to problematize the reading habits accessed, relating it with the formation of a romantic sensibility through the lecture of novels. In addition, analysed the dedications found in seventeen books of the documental series organized to localize the affections inside the acts of reading and collecting. Presents as conclusions some considerations about the theoretical and methodological statute of the personal libraries to studies in History of Reading and History of Education. Considers, finally, the necessary valorisation of the domestic reading to access the practices of women´s collecting and to make questions about the centrality of the schooling to understand the logics of writing and reading.