Abstract
The project Atlas Histórico do Brasil was proposed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1938, on the eve of the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Republic, and it underwent several transformations reflecting the uncertainties and disputes around its content and format until it was eventually printed as the Atlas Histórico Escolar. It was developed as a didactical and mnemonic device for the development of national history and of the peaceful, humanistic, and planetary projection of Brazil, teaching how important diplomats were in that journey. The examination of this process allows us to observe the meaning of the re-elaboration of Brazilian history in the 20th century and recognize the recovery of very old content, dating back to the beginning of the production of historical atlases in Europe, during the 17th century. Therefore, this paper approaches the production of historical atlases in general and helps rethinking the role of the history of cartography regarding its theory, and suggesting the possibility of a non-regular and non-linear analysis of atlases.
Keywords
Atlas Histórico Escolar; Atlas Histórico do Brasil; Rio Branco Institute; brazilian territorial development; historical atlases