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David Augusto Corazzi (1845-1896) left a unique legacy. He began publishing novels for the general public in 1870, in particular Jules Verne and Ponson du Terrail, founding the Empresa Horas Românticas [The Romantic Hours Company], the name of which was frequently changed to first become the Casa Editora David Corazzi [David Corazzi Publishing House], then the Companhia Nacional Editora (in 1888, with the entry of new partners) and finally A Editora [The Publishing House] (in 1906). It closed down in 1912. As for Corazzi, he left the profession in 1890 for health reasons, but during his career, he proved to be a master and pioneer in the use of advertising techniques, in his ability to win over new audiences and to open up new avenues for the dissemination of books, in particular with the creation of popular collections. Among these, the Biblioteca do Povo e das Escolas [The People and Schools' Library] had the greatest impact. It consisted of small 64-page volumes, at very affordable prices, and with print runs of around a thousand copies, distributed locally by a network of agents across the country. They were published in series of eight, in small format, and the editorial intention was that the reader would then bind these volumes together.
Between 1881 and 1891, he published 196 volumes, initially on a fortnightly basis, then monthly. This was his period of greatest impact. The collection continued after its mentor's departure until 1913, but at an irregular pace. In all, 237 books were published. The História de Portugal by Xavier da Cunha, its literary director, inaugurated the collection, which regularly returned to historical subjects with varied themes, such as ancient history, the discoveries, the history of Brazil and the French Invasions, by authors such as José de Arriaga, Vicente d'Almeida Eça and José Leite de Vasconcelos, among others. Although the collection had a highly varied thematic scope, with a penchant for practical books on natural science or hygiene, history was always one of the areas with the highest number of publications. (M. Domingos, Estudos…[Studies], pp. 13-134; M. Viana, “David Corazzi…”, 1990.)
Many other works were also launched in the 19th century by printers of periodicals (Panorama [Panorama], Gazeta de Portugal [Portugal's Gazette], Comércio do Porto [Porto Trade], etc.), others were author editions, although there was no mention of this as only the printer's name appeared, which makes it difficult to reconstruct their history. (A. Anselmo, Idem, 1997, pp. 126-128.) Among these printing houses, Panorama was particularly noteworthy as an acclaimed periodical for Portuguese historiography, where books were also printed, in particular by L. A. Rebelo da Silva.
