This paper intends to analize the books included in the category of belles lettres available at Jean-Baptiste Bompard's bookshop in Rio de Janeiro. Of French origin, he arrived at the city in 1816, to serve as a clerk at the well-known bookshop of his cousin Paulo Martin. After the latter's death by the end of 1823, Bompard took over the business, which he sold before departing back to France in 1828. On this occasion, one highlights the French books that were sold, as well as those translated into Portuguese. As sources, one employs Bompard's own manuscript catalog with over four thousand titles (1825) and sales advertisements in the press. In fact, considered at the time as an instrument of civilization, French language involved then a large reading public, although mostly drawn from the intellectual and political elites, including the women, who loved the novellas in the French taste. Therefore, one endeavors to heighten the role those who "dealt in books" played as cultural intermediaries between Brazil and France, promoting understanding as well as misunderstanding in both societies.
Belles Lettres; Booktrade; Brazil-Portugal: cultural relationship
