In the last decades of the 20th Century, the History of the Education, as well as that of Mathematical Education have used the background of the New History and Cultural History. It has changed its objects, methods and sources. Despite the diversification of sources, some of them have still not been used systematically in research. This is the situation with regard to fiction texts. According to Lajolo (1997), literature is the radar and mirror of the values, emotions, feelings and point of view of societies. Therefore we can pose questions to literary texts to seek historical narratives. In this paper, parts of the literary texts Novelas Paulistanas and Memórias de um Sargento de Milícias have led us to historical research in secondary sources. We aim to contribute to understanding of the Brazilian Empire's process of school education, in Rio de Janeiro, and of the FirstRepublic's educational process, in São Paulo.
History of Education; History of Mathematical Education; Literature; Sign