Contos fluminenses was the first collection of short stories compiled by Machado de Assis, which, with one exception, consisted of stories that had earlier been published in the Jornal das Famílias. Telling stories and arranging them in books was not only a viable way to discuss key issues in the evolution of national literature, but also an important source of income. The aim of this paper is to show the importance of the initial publishing support for those stories, and to seek clues about the motives of its author in assuming the work of compiling collections.
Machado de Assis; Contos Fluminenses; Jornal das Famílias; Readings for girls