Chronological Charts and Maps for History Teaching in the last decades of the Nineteenth Century

ABSTRACT

In this article, I present two educational methods used in the late 19th century for teaching historical content at Colégio Abílio (located in the capital of the province of Rio de Janeiro). This study aims to contribute to discussions that seek to reconstruct the history of History teaching by examining material culture and schooling practices. Such pieces are observable, among other aspects, in the artifacts and pedagogical ideas that circulated in various educational institutions throughout Brazil. By cross-referencing different historical sources and engaging with scholars from the fields of History of Education and History Teaching, this research seeks to infer characteristics of History education in Brazil during the 19th century. The study emphasize the circulation of teaching artifacts and methods throughout the Americas, facilitated by an emerging international market geared toward the newly mandatory modern school system, which would significantly expand public education, particularly primary education. Thus, while it is possible to identify methodologies employed in History Teaching throughout the 19th century, it is also evident that the circulation of these methods reveals transnational connections that enabled exchanges among individuals from different countries. This dynamic broadened the repertoire of pedagogical innovations available to teachers and students, which were often incorporated into school practices and routines in varied forms and formats, demonstrating the critical and creative agency of educators in the teaching process.

Keywords:
History Teaching; Material Culture; Educational Artifacts; Transnational Circulation; Colégio Abílio

RESUMO

Neste artigo, apresento dois métodos escolares utilizados, nas últimas décadas do século XIX, para o ensino de conteúdos históricos no Colégio Abílio (da capital fluminense), buscando contribuir com as discussões que envolvem e procuram reconstituir a história do ensino de História a partir da materialidade e da cultura escolar, observáveis, dentre outros aspectos, nos artefatos e nas ideias pedagógicas que circularam em diferentes instituições de ensino no país. A partir do confronto de diferentes fontes históricas e em diálogo com autores da História da Educação e do Ensino de História, buscou-se inferir sobre o ensino de história no Brasil naquele período, destacando o trânsito, na América, de artefatos e métodos de ensino, viabilizada por um mercado internacional voltado à escola moderna, recém obrigatória, que fomentaria uma expansão considerável do sistema público de ensino, sobretudo, primário. Desse modo, se por um lado reconhecemos metodologias que tenham sido empregadas no ensino de história no decorrer do Oitocentos, por outro observamos que a circulação desses métodos desvelam conexões transnacionais que viabilizam o intercâmbio entre sujeitos em diferentes países, ampliando o repertório de inovações pedagógicas as quais docentes e estudantes tem acesso e que, por vezes, são incorporadas às práticas e às rotinas escolares de outras formas e com outros formatos, denotando a agência crítica e criativa dos professores nos processos de ensino.

Palavras-chave:
Ensino de História; Cultura material; Artefatos escolares; Circulação Transnacional; Colégio Abílio

Introduction

There it was; around it lay charred figures from geometry, broken cosmography devices, enormous wall charts in strips, burned, soiled, scattered viscera of anatomy lessons, shattered prints of sacred history in frames, chronologies of national history [...] (The Athenaeum, Raul Pompéia, emphasis added, our translation).

In the final scenes of the novel The Athenaeum (1888), Sérgio (the son), a student and the narrator, describes a fire at the school - which gives the novel its title - and the destruction of a variety of teaching materials. Among them were huge wall charts, prints of sacred history, and chronologies of national history, very likely used in the teaching of historical content. It is known that Raul Pompéia fictionalized his experiences as a student at Colégio Abílio (in the novel: The Athenaeum¹), and that the director in the narrative, Aristarco Argolo de Ramos, alludes to Abílio César Borges, a notable figure in the Brazilian educational landscape in the second half of the nineteenth century (Zilberman, 1995)².

Within the field of the History of Education, there are numerous studies that, from various theoretical perspectives and with diverse focuses, addresses the life and the intellectual work of Borges, the Baron of Macaúbas. Collectively, this body of research demonstrates that he became one of the most influential figures in Brazilian education. Specifically, his contributions include: his production of school textbooks (Bittencourt, 2004; Trinchão, 2007, 2015; Pais, 2019); his significant role as a proponent of modern pedagogy and a leading voice in the campaign against the use of spanking paddles in schools (Gondra; Sampaio, 2010); his support for mandatory physical education (Valdez, 2006; Melo; Peres, 2016); and his impactful work as a reform-oriented public education policymaker concerned with teacher training (Almeida et al., 2022). Beyond these educational contributions, other studies delve into his prominent political engagement, especially his active participation in abolitionist campaigns (Alonso, 2015), and the political education he offered his students (Souza, 2017). Research also explores his specific educational practices, such as the poem recitals (Lima, 2023a), and his broader pedagogical ideas (Alves, 2015).

Dr. Abílio, as he was publicly known, began his career in the city of Salvador, the capital of the state of Bahia, leaving medicine to dedicate himself to education. From 1856 to 1857, he served as Director of Public Instruction of the state of Bahia and, the following year, opened his own school: the Ginásio Baiano. During the 1850s and 1860s, the educator invested in travels to Europe and the United States in search of new teaching methods and pedagogical innovations, in addition to exhibiting and publishing his books in some of these countries.

In the beginning of 1870 Borges decided to move to Rio de Janeiro where, in partnership with Epifânio Reis, he inaugurated (in 1871)³Colégio Abílio, which would soon become a reference in private secondary education. Located on Rua Ipiranga, the school’s address was emblematic, as it was a street “traveled by both the group whose wealth came from the coffee economy of the Paraíba Valley [...] and certain foreigners who chose to remain in Brazil” (Schwarcz, 2017, p. 22, our translation).

Drawing on the experience accumulated at the Ginásio Baiano, Borges brought to the Court an educational model that combined traditional elements related to Christian morality and aristocratic manners⁴, with a more liberal approach, encouraging awards and abolishing corporal punishment. In addition, he defended the abolitionist cause, which remained present in the lessons and festivities throughout the school year and in his principle of employing free labor in his institution.

The adoption of a humanist-based curriculum and the introduction of methods, books, and teaching instruments considered innovative at the time became hallmarks of the work of the Baron of Macaúbas. According to Koreritz (1872), a German traveler who visited the Primeira Exposição Pedagógica do Rio de Janeiro (Pedagogical Exhibition of Rio de Janeiro) in 1883, Borges knew “how to promote his merchandise,” and his school possessed “nearly everything that, in other rooms [of the Exhibition], is exhibited by different countries” (our translation). This observation suggests that, in addition to his business acumen, Borges was connected to a transnational school market, acting as a cultural mediator and thus facilitating the circulation within Brazil of teaching methods, pedagogical ideas, and educational artifacts produced in other nations. These connections, as Saunier (2004) would put it, “develop among nation-states, but also above, beyond, and beneath them” (our translation).

Studies, such as those by Vidal (2009, 2024), highlight connections between countries by focusing on the circulation of people and educational objects - particularly the pedagogical model of intuitive teaching - emphasizing the importance of the cultural dimension in understanding relations between peoples and in recognizing historical realities as connected histories, avoiding ethnocentric and hierarchical perspectives. In this sense, within the context addressed in this study, the circulation of objects, people, and pedagogical models became a key issue in the history of education, in dialogue with the reflections of Serge Gruzinski (2001) on cultural mixing and the central role of cultural mediators.

In this vein, we examine the teaching of History at Colégio Abílio through the lens of materiality, i.e., by analyzing the chronological charts and wall maps used to convey historical content, such as those seen destroyed by Sérgio in The Athenaeum. More specifically, we explore two didactic tools for the teaching of Universal History that circulated at different times in the schools of Macaúbas. The first, known as the Zaba Method, was created by a Polish educator and appears in study programs and exam announcements during the institution’s early years, up to at least 1873 (Jornal do Commercio, May 20, 1872). The second, developed by the American Sebastian Adams, is the Adams Synchronological Chart, a large wall map of universal chronology mentioned in the section on History teaching in the Catálogo do Colégio Abílio da Exposição Pedagógica do Rio de Janeiro de 1883 (Colégio Abílio Catalog for the Rio de Janeiro Pedagogical Exhibition), the very same exhibition visited by Koreritz.

This historical-analytical approach allows us to investigate a key question: What can we learn about history teaching in the late nineteenth century by examining the interplay between school culture (educational practices and pedagogical choices) and the material culture of the school (artifacts, methods, and teaching tools)? This is explored by focusing on the resources available at Colégio Abílio, a prominent private school in the Court founded by Abílio César Borges.

To achieve this, the article is structured into three main sections after this introduction. First, I contextualized and presented the material developed by Count Zaba. Second, I traced the history and characteristics of Adams’ synchronological map. Finally, I examined potential connections between the circulation of people, ideas, and pedagogical materials and how History was taught in the late nineteenth century. This final section also considered the prevailing discussions around educational innovation and modernization - discourses that often contrasted with traditional pedagogical practices, which were frequently criticized for being too mechanical and focused on rote memorization.

The chronological chart of Félix Zaba

According to the program of Colégio Abílio in the Court, published in the Jornal do Commercio, General History was studied at the school using the Zaba Method for one hour, from 2 to 3 p.m., three days a week: Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays⁵. It is not possible to determine exactly when Borges first came into contact with the Zaba Method and/or the Polish system. This may have occurred during one of his trips to Europe or the United States in the 1860s, where the Polish methodology was already well known. What is certain is that when Napoleon Félix Zaba arrived in Brazil in July 1870, Borges was not in the country⁶. The two most likely met during the Pole’s second stay in Rio de Janeiro, between May and June of 1871, as the future Baron of Macaúbas was preparing to inaugurate his school in the Court.

On his return to the capital of Rio de Janeiro, Zaba took the opportunity to strengthen ties with members of the Imperial Board of Education and figures in the political sphere. In addition to some visits to the Imperial Palace (Diário do Rio de Janeiro, May 16, 1871), he gave three more lectures at the Escola Central (Diário do Rio de Janeiro, May 20, 1871). At that time, the Polish author emphasized that in the ten months he had spent in Brazil, over six hundred people in the cities of Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Itu, Campinas, and Santos had already been trained to apply the methodology to various areas of study. During this period, he had “dedicated every effort to facilitating and encouraging its adoption by the authorities,” even offering “free lessons ⁷”.

The material that Félix Zaba worked hard to disseminate through his intercontinental pedagogical travels was, in fact, his own version of the “Polish system”. A product of the Polish intellectual diaspora that began in 1831 after the end of the November Uprising in Poland, the Polish mnemonic method (also known as the Polish system) was developed and refined by two Polish exiles in France: Antoni Jazwinski (1789-1870) and Józef Bem (1784-1850), with whom Zaba had contact as early as the 1840s.

In an environment favorable to literate culture, and associated with the French interest in the intellectual production of Polish refugees, Jazwinski and Bem published the method, which, “though mostly forgotten today, in its time […] swept across Europe and North America” (Rosenberg; Grafton, 2013, p. 205). For the Poles, the dissemination of the Polish system represented a way of preserving and protecting memory, traditions, and the arts, since many political refugees were intellectuals and artists (Cybowski, 2016; Suchowiejko, 2014; Wichrowska, 2021). Moreover, and not insignificantly, intellectual, literate, and educational activity became a source of income. Through the sale of lectures and courses, as well as the commercial distribution of didactic materials, they were able to support themselves in exile and, to some extent, financially assist the institutions with which they were affiliated.

Opting for exile in England in 1840, Félix Zaba founded the Cadogan Literary and Scientific Institution with the aim of promoting literate culture and providing a space for integration between Poles and non-Poles, offering a library, reading rooms, and educational services (Weekly Chronicle, September 20, 1840). Under his leadership and acting as the legal representative of the Society for the Propagation of the Polish Method (founded in 1830 in France by Jazwinski and Bem)⁸, the institute became the principal distributor of the Franco-Polish mnemonic method and its diagrams in the British Isles until the mid-1870s, when Zaba began touring the Americas.

In the first version of the Polish system, published in 1844 under the title Chronological Table of Universal History Arranged for the Polish Mnemonic Method, Zaba produced a key of the method (a small manual) consisting of just 31 pages, printed by Davis and Co. He also reduced the number of symbols scattered across the diagrams and incorporated historical events of other types, such as plagues and fires, while retaining the color scheme indicating countries and the structure of boxes and sub-boxes. In practice, the method was based on a diagram made up of one hundred squares (“boxes”), each containing nine subdivisions (“sub-boxes”). Each square represented historical events that occurred in a given year, and the set of one hundred squares formed a specific century. To function, it was necessary to associate the symbol, which referred to the nature of the historical event (war, conquest, scientific discovery, etc.), with the place/nation/character involved in it, signaled by different colors, considering its position in the diagram (Figure 1).

Figure 1:
Diagram of the Polish method

Regarding the set of materials to be sold, Zaba marketed the Zaba Method, which was the name he adopted when he began his international travels in 1868. He employed three basic components: a book (which he called the Key of the Method) explaining the methodology; 19 diagrams to form a historical chart of the centuries of the Christian era; and a box of colored pencils or wax crayons of various sizes for coloring/distinguishing countries. Unlike Bem’s book, which addressed the possible applications of the Polish method to other fields of knowledge, Zaba focused solely on the study of Universal History.

The commercial success of the method and the promotional activities - such as courses and lectures - allowed Félix Zaba, by the late 1840s, to live in England without relying on the aid provided by the British government to refugees (Morning Herald, November 12, 1850). In many ways, the establishment of networks and the strengthening of spaces of cooperation and exchange among intellectuals, educators, and politicians facilitated the production, circulation, and dissemination of the Zaba Method. Christian associations and scientific societies were key driving forces in this process, as they gave visibility and credibility to the Poles’ work and connected them with prominent figures in politics, publishing, and education.

Over the course of a decade, from 1869 to 1879, Zaba delivered lectures in the following countries and colonial territories, in chronological order: the United States (1869), Argentina (1870), Brazil (1870-1871), Portugal (1871-1872), Poland (1873), Austria (1873), Canada (1874), Peru (1875), Chile (1875), Hawaii (1876), Australia (1876-1877), New Zealand (1877-1878), and again in the United States (1878-1879) and Canada (1879). He then appears to have returned to Poland, where he died in 1885 (Sobol-Kiełbania, 2015).

Tipografia Pinheiro & Cia published the Brazilian edition of the MethodoZaba in 1870 in Rio de Janeiro. The 39-page booklet included a description of the methodology, an explanation of the symbols and colors, and a list of historical events organized chronologically. The full set of materials also included several diagrams, both colored and blank - referred to as “maps” - in two different sizes (large and small), used to compose a Historical Chart of the centuries of the Christian era, as well as a box of colored crystals in various sizes for marking countries.

According to Zaba (1870, p. 4, our translation), “the object of Universal History requires rigorous attention, both in the collection of facts and in their coordination according to the chronological order in which they occurred.” Among the historical events, there was a notable emphasis on those related to sacred history and the political history of European countries, especially wars, conquests, calamities, treaties, and uprisings. The historical figures listed in the material are mostly biblical characters, saints, and Catholic popes, as well as members of various European monarchies.

The author adopted the Christian chronology, dividing history into two periods: before and after Christ. The material thus covered the 24 centuries preceding Christ, encompassing major events and figures from the Old Testament. It then continued from the first century A.D. through the nineteenth century, focusing on individuals and events related to the history of Christianity, the Catholic Church, Protestantism, Ancient Rome, Scotland, France, Great Britain, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Prussia, Poland, Russia, the United States, and Brazil (in the Brazilian edition)⁹.

To read the diagram (Figure 1), users were instructed to count the boxes - representing the years that made up the century - from left to right in relation to a central line. The boxes to the right of this line were designated as being “beyond” the central line, and those to the left, “before” the central line. For lines five and six, the numbers were not to be stated; instead, they were referred to as “near” and “across” the central line, respectively. According to Zaba, all these terms (“near,” “across,” “before,” “beyond” the central line) “are technical terms in the practice of the system” (Zaba, 1870, p. 9, our translation). To find the year, mentally add ten years to each row, so that row 1 (one) refers to the first ten years of a century; the second row refers to years 11 to 20; the third row refers to years 21 to 30; and so on.

In the exercises proposed by Zaba, students were given a coordinate (e.g., “fifth box beyond the central line in the first row”), from which they had to temporally locate the event and/or historical figure in question. To do this, it was essential that students had already memorized the logic of locating historical data in relation to the central and median lines, in addition to the symbols and colors.

In the opening section of the booklet, the author describes the method as “simple, practical, and wonderfully suited to the study of Universal History in particular” (Zaba, 1870, p. 4, our translation). However, the effectiveness of the methodology relied on the student’s ability to “rigorously observe the system’s rules” (Zaba, 1870, p. 5), as well as on the gradual progression of lessons. As Zaba instructed, “Once the eye is sufficiently familiar with the first century, move on to the second; and so on, until you cover all the diagrams of the entire map” (Zaba, 1870, p. 10, emphasis added, our translation).

Although Count Zaba did not introduce many innovations in content - since he relied mainly on factual data related to sacred history and major European political events, which were common in universal history textbooks of the time - the novelty of his methodology lay in its chronological presentation. The use of colors and icons reveals the visual character of the approach and aims to facilitate the association of information, enabling students to retain a large volume of (historical) data, an enduring objective of mnemonic methodologies.

By introducing diagrams adorned with symbols and colors to support the retention of pre-selected information, the Polish system preserved the foundations of classical mnemonics¹⁰, aligning with what, in the nineteenth century, might be called a “pedagogy of vision.” This pedagogical approach prioritized the use of visual stimuli - such as diagrams, maps, and illustrations - to facilitate learning and memorization. Hence, there was a clear concern with making content more accessible and engaging through visual resources organized methodically, in line with Abílio Borges’s ideas on teaching History. The Bahian educator argued that in secondary education, where the focus was on entrance examinations, mastering chronology was essential, and it could be “illustrated by devices, charts, maps, and diagrams,” which made “the teacher’s task of being understood by students easier, as they would willingly receive the instruction” (Borges, 1896, p. 27, our translation).

Thus, Zaba marketed a large version of his maps, suggesting they be mounted on classroom walls to enable a more collective and simultaneous approach. In one of his lectures, he even defended the use of large diagrams, comparing them to geographic maps, through which “the mind was able to understand the configuration of the Earth and the relative positions of important places,” so that “the same would happen with history by making ‘time visible’” (Diário de Pernambuco, August 29, 1871, our translation). Cyrillo Pessoa, general inspector of education in Bahia, also shared this view. In an article in the Revista de Instrução Pública (1871, p. 52), he stated that in his assessment, the “usefulness of the maps” was unquestionable, since “with a single glance, the entire history can be traversed, easily enumerating the events by their dates” (our translation).

The spectacularization of results through public lectures and tests was decisive for both the adoption of the Zaba Method in classes at Colégio Abílio and its market value. In addition to expert opinions, public demonstrations with students trained in just a few lessons immediately impressed audiences as an effective pedagogical innovation. In addition, they provoked discussion on the role of memorization in teaching processes among a more specialized audience, composed mainly of teachers, educators, and school principals. To a great extent, this also served as promotion for the method.

Adams’ wall chart

Among the artifacts listed in the Colégio Abílio Catalog Section of the Exposição Pedagógica do Rio de Janeiro (1883), item 206 in the section devoted to materials for teaching History is the “Grande mappa mural de história universal até 1882 de Adams.” However, what exactly was Adams’s wall map?

Originally published in 1871 under the title Synchronological Chart of Universal History (Figure 2), by the American Sebastian C. Adams, the material, according to Rosenberg and Grafton (2013), represents one of the most impressive graphic achievements of the nineteenth century in the field of visual chronology. Adams is said to have lived in Oregon, where he combined religious activity with teaching. He conceived his Synchronology as a visual synthesis of human history, organized chronologically on a monumentally sized map - over seven meters long and filled with colors and intricate details. It was a bold editorial project reflecting the ambition of its creator to offer the public - particularly students - an illustrated summary of universal history enabling the simultaneous recognition of historical events.¹¹

Figure 2:
Adams’ Synchronological Chart (1878)

Grounded in a literal interpretation of the biblical Book of Genesis and Archbishop James Usher’s chronological framework¹², the chart commences in 4004 BCE with the creation of Adam and Eve, proceeding through a detailed biblical genealogy until reaching the Tower of Babel in 2300 BCE, from which five civilizational “streams” emerge: Canaan, Egypt, Babylon, Greece, and China. Inspired by Friedrich Strass’s earlier cartographic work, the chart represents civilizations as rivers that expand, contract, and merge throughout temporal progression, focusing predominantly on the Middle East, Greece, Rome, and subsequently Europe, thereby reflecting the Victorian historical perspective characteristic of the nineteenth century.

Adams’s interest in history and theology led him to design a map that not only located historical events in time but also sought to situate them within a providential narrative. In this sense, the Synchronological Chart belongs to a long tradition of representations of the flow of time, inheriting elements from earlier European and U.S. works. Its visual structure was based on the concept of a continuous and linear timeline, with a horizontal axis guiding the reader through the centuries¹³. To promote a vision of universal history, Adams organized historical events to highlight the interconnection among cultures, so that each line represented a civilization or dynasty, allowing the simultaneous comparison of events across different parts of the world (Rosenberg; Grafton, 2013).

Visually striking, the material was produced by the renowned lithography firm Strobridge & Co. of Cincinnati and featured a vivid aesthetic marked by a profusion of colors and richly detailed illustrations, including biblical symbols, apocalyptic images, and portraits of political leaders. Based on encyclopedic and comparative parameters, the graphic composition begins with the Old Testament with the first color illustration depicts Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.

Thus, biblical chronology serves as the backbone of history, from which branch out other paths constructing a comparative history of humanity. Beginning with the Tower of Babel, the trajectory of ancient cultures such as Phoenicia, Egypt, Babylon, and Greece is traced, eventually giving rise to the European nations. Outside Europe, only certain Eastern cultures, such as India and China, were considered, reflecting a highly Eurocentric view of human history. It is only in the final panels that the history of the English colonies in North America gained prominence.

In this respect, the set of historical events presented on Adams’s map valorizes Anglo-Saxon culture and is framed within a providentialist and extremely limited historical narrative, with a racist bias, in which past events form part of a divine plan culminating in Anglo-Saxon greatness. By suggesting that empires such as Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome emerged simultaneously and in a predetermined manner, the author adopts an approach known as teleological historicism, which disregards the complexity of historical processes.

In this direction, timeline overlooks major civilizations such as the Olmecs, the Maya, Indian empires like the Maurya and Gupta, the Aksumite Empire of Ethiopia, as well as key historical figures such as the Buddha and Mansa Musa. Moreover, it reflects a perspective that is undeniably racist and characteristic of the Victorian era, which classified peoples into categories such as “civilized,” “semi-civilized,” “barbaric,” and “savage,” thereby drastically minimizing the significance of non-European civilizations such as the Tang Dynasty in China and the empire of Genghis Khan.

The circulation of Adams’s map was not limited to the United States and included various adapted versions elsewhere¹⁴. After the first edition was published in 1871, the success of the material led to reprints in several U.S. cities and in England in 1879 (The Athenaeum, March 22, 1879). The British version, published by Charles William Deacon and Company, modified the original to reduce its overt celebration of U.S. history and included a geological diagram by the scientist Edward Hull (Rosenberg; Grafton, 2013). At the time, a columnist introduced the material by stating that it “should become part of the school furniture of all middle-class and grammar schools in the United Kingdom” and that, regarding the religious perspective, Adams:

[…] seems to have done his work conscientiously and without any Protestant or anti-Catholic prejudice; in fact, we can say that Protestantism is nowhere to be found on his map, or rather, that it is almost as prominent as Arianism or any other heresy (The Tablet, 28, 1878, p. 813).

In the historiographic context of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the writing of history was often shaped by explicit religious positions, and Adams’s supposed neutrality may indicate an attempt to adopt a more secular approach, focused on political forces, cultural aspects, and scientific discoveries rather than religious doctrines. Thus, the British appropriation of the map, with the removal of references to Adams and the reconfiguration of content, illustrates a common nineteenth-century phenomenon: the selective, critical, and creative appropriation of teaching materials by teachers and publishers to meet specific cultural demands. Deacon’s edition, by emphasizing the scientific aspect with the addition of the geological diagram, reflected the growing appreciation of science and progress in Victorian Europe, while denoting the conformation of the works to the demands of the local reading public, to whom they were intended to be marketed¹⁵.

In Latin America, Francisco J. Zavala was, to date, the only one to identify, translate, adapt, and publish a version of the chart, which he did in Guadalajara, Mexico, in 1882. In addition to incorporating elements of Mexican national history, such as a chronology of key events and a gallery of prominent national leaders, including Cuauhtemotzin, “last emperor of Mexico from 1498 to 1525”¹⁶, it also included descriptions of events related to South American history, with references to episodes from Brazilian history.

It appears that Adams’s material gave rise to a legal dispute in Mexico in 1882. An analysis of the cases compiled in the volume Leys y Derechos¹⁷, covering July to December of that year, reveals a complex scenario involving various actors claiming rights to the work in its different forms. The first point of contention involved Dionisio Meade, a resident of Guadalajara, who sought literary ownership of the Índices de las cosas notables que hay en la Carta Sincronológica de la Historia Universal, the translated and adapted version by Zavala. On October 17, 1882, Meade obtained official recognition from the Mexican courts of intellectual ownership of the work, with the consent of Zavala himself, who had ceded all rights to the publisher. From that moment on, only the Guadalajara publisher held the rights to the Spanish translation of Adams’s map. (Mexico, 1885)

At the same time, Jorge Heyser, a resident of León, entered the dispute, claiming to have acquired the rights to Adams’s Synchronological Chart of Universal History through an assignment made by Charles H. Taylor, the last holder of the copyright in the United States. To support his claim, Heyser presented documents from the U.S. attesting to his copyright ownership. However, the Mexican court granted him rights only to the chromolithographic version of the illustrated map, denying him ownership of the Clave para inteligencia de la Carta Sincronológica de Historia Universal de Adams, a document essential to understanding the work. He was also authorized to publish the original English version and to translate it into French, but not into Spanish, as Meade had already obtained exclusive rights to that language.

As a result, the dispute produced a balance of power in the Mexican publishing market: Meade secured the rights to the Spanish translation and publication in Guadalajara, while Heyser obtained rights to the illustrated version and publication in English and French. To a large extent, the episode reflected the growing importance of copyright issues in the nineteenth century and the Mexican government’s efforts to regulate intellectual property disputes in the country. It also illustrated the transnational circulation of teaching methods and the concern to meet school market demands for vernacular-language teaching materials aligned with the most modern educational discussions.

In this respect, we can say that the pedagogical impact of Adams’s Synchronological Chart was undeniable. In the educational context of the late nineteenth century, historical charts became essential tools for teaching history in both the Americas and Europe. The popularity of these maps reflected a shift in how history came to be understood and taught in schools. The idea of visualizing the past as a continuous and connected line became central to modern historical education, in accordance with Pestalozzi’s pedagogical principles of intuitive learning (Andrès, 2013).

This “pedagogical innovation” explored the potential of the image as a teaching tool, in complete agreement with Abílio Borges’s belief that “the superiority of vision in the acquisition of knowledge, compared to the other senses, was unquestionable” (Borges, 1896, n.p., our translation). In the early 1880s, a lengthy U.S. article dedicated to reviewing the best educational books of the year recommended the use of the material for all ages. It underlined that its simplicity made it easily understandable even for children, while its comprehensiveness made it “a historical encyclopedia for mature students” (Kansas City Review of Science and Industry, 1880-1881, p. 378-379).

Moreover, Adams’s map resonates with broader pedagogical concerns of the time, particularly the moral and civic education of citizens. Maps such as Adams’s, by presenting history as a cohesive and morally meaningful narrative, helped shape a historical consciousness that reinforced both Christian values and an ideal of human progress based on reason and science.

Adams’ Synchronological Chart remains relevant today, both as a historical object and as an educational artifact that reveals pedagogical practices and forms part of the memory of the modern school. Contemporary reproductions of the work continue to circulate, attesting to its enduring fascination and its ability to captivate the educational publishing market interested in the study of school history.

From the Polish diagram to the monumental U.S. wall map

In the introduction to “Grupo 9, Livros elementares e objetos de História”, the commission of specialists responsible for the 1883 exposition report discusses how History should be taught in primary schools. According to the document:

The commission understands that books intended for teaching history in primary schools should combine the intuitive method with the intellectual one, a clear and concise presentation of major facts, in the form of tales, with the appeal of engravings and maps inserted into the text, thus making the reading inviting through the innate human curiosity.

The Socratic form, pointing to facts and dates in an almost abstract manner, bores children and accustoms them to wait for the teacher’s question and then give the answer - both memorized by heart and mechanically - which runs counter to the rational principles of pedagogy. These principles recommend the education and development of reasoning alongside memory exercises, and not the sole and abusive use of memory, reducing learning to a mechanism or crude mnemonic, as was once the case and still is today in the clerical teaching system (1884, p. 91, our translation).

The Commission criticized the traditional model of History teaching in primary schools, centered on mechanical memorization of questions and answers applied in an abstract and decontextualized way. In contrast, it advocated for a pedagogical approach that integrated the intuitive method, valuing the narration of historical facts and the use of visual aids such as stories, illustrations, and maps to spark students’ interest and curiosity. In another excerpt, although lamenting the limited number of materials for teaching History, especially in the early grades, the Commission highlighted that in the classrooms of Colégio Abílio “everything spoke to the eyes, inspiring a taste for the study of history and evoking the memory of a bygone era or a remarkable deed.” (Report of the Primeira Exposição Pedagógica do Rio de Janeiro,1884, p.92, our translation)

According to Maria Del Pozo (2013), the emergence of wall charts for teaching History is part of a broader context of pedagogical and technological transformations that occurred between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. These teaching materials, initially derived from enlarged book illustrations, became central tools in the dissemination of historical and cultural knowledge, reflecting both pedagogical concerns and the political and social influences of their time.

Although the earliest manifestations of educational illustrations can be traced back to the work of Johann Amos Comenius (1592-1670), whose Orbis sensualium pictus already proposed the use of images to facilitate learning by connecting abstract concepts to visual representations of the world, it was during the Enlightenment that the idea of visual teaching gained greater traction. Educators such as Johann Bernhard Basedow (1724-1790) promoted the integration of images into teaching as a way to stimulate reasoning and critical observation. From these experiences, charts and murals began to emerge as extended versions of book illustrations, with the first examples of classroom wall charts appearing in 1776 during a public demonstration at the Philanthropinum of Dessau, where Basedow displayed enlarged engravings from his own teaching materials (Uphoff, 2009; Andrés, 2013). According to Katharina Uphoff (2009), this moment marked the beginning of the transformation of educational images into autonomous objects capable of occupying significant visual space in classrooms.

Technological development, however, was crucial to the production and dissemination of such materials. The invention of lithography by Alois Senefelder in 1796 made it possible to mass-produce colorful and detailed images at a lower cost, allowing wall maps to become more accessible to schools and more popular across various European countries. In the nineteenth century, while national education systems expanded, maps and charts became essential pedagogical tools. By the early decades of that century, they were widely used to teach geography, natural sciences, religion, and especially history, in countries such as Germany, France, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands¹⁸, boosted by specialized publishers that produced complete series of charts on different historical periods and key events.

The transnational circulation of these materials is undoubtedly a notable aspect. German publishers such as Volk und Wissen, and Klett, began exporting their chronological charts to other countries, while France produced its own visual sets aligned with the republican and secular narrative of the time. In England, publishers like Blackie and Son created materials aimed at colonial education, reflecting the imagery of British imperial expansion and promoting a narrative of cultural, technological, economic, and political superiority. Such a discourse, to some extent, also resonated in materials produced in the U.S.

For some researchers, this exchange of educational artifacts led to a certain visual standardization of historical events, even as each nation adapted the content to its nationalist perspective, creating and incorporating its own heroes and events (Uphoff, 2009; Andrés, 2013). This is evident in the Mexican version of Adams’ map, as well as in adaptations of the Zaba Method to Brazilian History by the student of the Escola Normal da Bahia, Malaquias Permínio, and to U.S. history by the educator Elizabeth Peabody (Lima, 2023c).

This study found that both the Polish diagram and Adams’ map follow a didactic and methodological logic: the images are not merely decorative but condense historical events into dramatized and/or easily memorable scenes, emphasizing key moments of Universal History - usually climaxes of battles, heroic gestures, or civilizational milestones. This approach reinforced an associative and linear reading of history, in which the progress of civilization was portrayed in an idealized and racist manner.

Even though both included supplementary materials - the so-called “key of the method” - the Polish diagram and the (monumental) U.S. map were visually quite different. However, in both cases, visuality was recognized and explored as a potential and innovation by their creators and the public alike.

The success of the Zaba Method, for instance, up until at least the 1880s, was often attributed to its simple and visually innovative structure, making it suitable for teaching children of various ages¹⁹ (Lima, 2023c). Nevertheless, the dynamic context surrounding the creation, production, and dissemination of educational artifacts and teaching methods - stimulated by the expansion of compulsory mass education in several Western countries and the industry that emerged to meet its material needs and pedagogical trends - broadened the repertoire of teachers and educational administrators. By the late 1870s, the Zaba system was already perceived as outdated, useful only for studying chronology (Lima, 2023c). Despite its visual innovation, its main goal was to allow the “user” to “find the article needed with the greatest speed and readiness” (Zaba, 1871, p. 3, our translation). In other words, the student had to identify a given historical fact within a comprehensive chronology represented by icons. In practice, the study of Universal History with the Zaba Method required students to memorize the meaning of symbols, colors, and positions within sub-boxes, rather than the historical information itself. The accompanying material contained no content to help contextualize the historical fact indicated, and while it may have been affordable, it would only be useful if paired with the reading of other educational texts.

As Bittencourt (1993) recalls, when referring to the adoption of the Zaba Method at Colégio Abílio, many criticisms had already been voiced regarding memorization in the educational process. These criticisms intensified throughout the 1870s and found resonance in the famous reports by Rui Barbosa, written in 1882, in which memorization practices were strongly condemned (Margotto, 1999; Souza, 2003). To some extent, the fight against the “memorization method” diminished the long-term success of the Polish system both in Brazil and abroad.

Still, the transnational circulation of charts, diagrams, and chronological maps coincided with the expansion of the simultaneous teaching method, at a time when there was also a push to give classrooms a modern appearance. Andrés (2013, p. 6, our translation) emphasizes that:

[…] the few schools that could display wealth adopted the same mechanisms used by the bourgeoisie to show their status in private settings: excessive ornamentation and the display of expensive materials, bought abroad more for decoration than for educational purposes. The typical school of that period left no empty space on the walls, which were covered to the ceiling with sheets of animals and exotic objects, arranged harmoniously to symbolize the principles of school rationalization.

In this context, with the advent of mass public education and the professionalization of teaching in the final decades of the nineteenth century, wall charts became an integral component of didactic practice. In many institutions, especially with the popularization of school museums, large murals came to be seen as “the physical embodiment of intuitive knowledge technologies.” However, “they were often hung so high that children could neither see nor touch them” (Andrés, 2013, p. 6, our translation). At Colégio Abílio, their presence is documented in various reports and inspection records. An 1887 report by the General Hygiene Inspectorate, for example, refers to the Glass Gallery, noting that “along its inner walls hang charts with inscriptions, maxims, prints, etc., all in line with the special educational system adopted there” (1887, p. 17, our translation). Similarly, an article published in the newspaper Cruzeiro on May 16, 1883, describes the layout of the new unit in Botafogo, observing that “the walls of several rooms are covered from top to bottom with maps, charts, prints, diagrams, images, photographs, and maxims that support study and teaching.”

It seems that by the 1880s, Adams’s wall map was better suited to the pedagogical approach and school culture of Colégio Abílio than the Zaba Method. The criticisms of preparatory exams, which rigidified curricula, and the incorporation of the intuitive method into the institution’s teaching practices favored Baron of Macaúbas’s interest in Adams’ map, which was added to the “busts of great men, photographs, and historical lithographs” that characterized the teaching of the subject at the school.

The presence of these materials on classroom walls, hallways, and other educational spaces in some way produced new learning gestures among students, who could walk around the room reading the chronology of universal history. This was represented by dates and many pictorial elements associated with them, as well as names of places, people, and events. It was a way of moving the body while learning, organizing ideas.

At the turn of the 20th century, Andrés (2013, pp. 6-10) observed that in the Spanish context, liberal and progressive educators also began to question the presence of such large maps in classrooms. The author cites figures like Manuel Bartolomé Cossío, who (in 1915) called for their “removal for being unaesthetic, unhygienic, and unpedagogical” (our translation). In 1930, Ballesteros and Sáinz advised teachers to use charts and plates only “during lessons to preserve the interest of the new and unknown.”

Despite this, the legacy of wall charts and chronological maps remains evident in how History is still taught today, i.e., through the use of images and timelines to help “fix” concepts and events considered (at a given time and by a particular social group) to be emblematic within the historical narrative. For this reason, we can say that such artifacts not only stood out in the educational market but also projected a visually simplified and emotionally charged version of national and/or universal history, shaping the way generations of students understood and related to the past.

In addition to methodological limitations, the substantive historical content selected for these chronologies also carried troubling ideological implications, notably Racist and Eurocentric. This is expected of materials produced in the nineteenth century, which exalted Anglo-Saxon history to the detriment of other cultures, and reduced “the East” to China and India. It is also possible to observe that the simplification of historical processes and the idea that modern progress derives directly from a divine plan can distort critical understanding of history and reinforce deterministic and teleological interpretations. The principle that we now defend - that the teaching of History must be grounded in multiple perspectives and verifiable sources, avoiding narratives that blend faith and speculation with historical facts - was far from being considered in the proposals we identify from the nineteenth century. Thus, a teaching material based on such interpretations would not only hinder the development of students’ critical thinking but also depart from the fundamental principles of academic historiography.

Finally, and no less importantly, the emergence and transnational diffusion of wall charts for teaching History resulted from the intersection of technological innovations, pedagogical changes, and political interests. These materials, more than mere educational supports, reflected and shaped worldviews and educational ideals, serving as vehicles for the dissemination of both historical knowledge and cultural and ideological values. The analysis of such charts, therefore, goes beyond the field of education and involves an understanding of the social, political, and cultural dynamics that underpinned their production and circulation over the centuries

While this article has sought, on the one hand, to identify the methodologies employed in the teaching of history throughout the nineteenth century, it also recognizes that the circulation of such methods revealed transnational connections that enabled exchanges between individuals in different countries. This circulation broadened the repertoire of pedagogical innovations accessible to teachers and students, which were at times incorporated into school practices and routines in different forms and formats, highlighting the critical and creative agency of teachers in teaching processes. Looking at the past helps us deconstruct the idea of innovation that characterizes a “presentist” and counterintuitive view of human experiences. This helps us understand contemporary schools.

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• Support or funding:
  Not applicable.
• Availability of research data:
  The entire dataset supporting the results of this study was published in the article itself.
• How to cite this article:
  LIMA, Carollina Carvalho Ramos de. Chronological charts and maps for teaching History in the last decades of the nineteenth century. Educar em Revista, Curitiba, v. 42, e99087, 2026. https://doi.org/10.1590/1984-0411.99087-T
• 1
  The novel was first published as a serial in the Gazeta de Notícias, with the subtitle “Crônica de saudades” (Chronicle of longing) (Schwarcz, 2017).
• 2
  Regina Zilberman (1995), in revisiting Pompéia’s work regarding the ideas and practices of Borges, highlighted the director’s view of society and, by extension, of school: “society is hierarchical, and subordinates must accept the order and primacy of superiors”, so that in the school setting, “the exercise of authority leads to the learning of obedience” (Zilberman, 1995, p. 82, our translation).
• 3
  Coming from Salvador in 1871, the (future) Baron of Macaúbas opened two schools in the southeast of Brazil: the first in the Imperial Court that same year, and the second in the city of Barbacena, Minas Gerais, ten years later. In Rio de Janeiro, his school initially occupied a building in Laranjeiras, and later moved to the Botafogo neighborhood. Despite the “good results” and strong reputation of his school in the Bahian capital, the reasons that led Abílio Borges to choose Rio de Janeiro in 1871 remain unknown. However, it is undeniable that since the 1850s he had increasingly focused on education, becoming a well-known figure even within the Court. His name was even considered by the emperor for the position of rector at Colégio Pedro II. In the following year, the opening of his school in the capital of Rio de Janeiro, Borges joined the Court’s Public Instruction Council, where he served from 1872 to 1877 (Saviani, 2000).
• 4
  Angela Alonso (2015, p. 34, our translation) described Abílio as follows: “the teacher had a English-style beard and always wore a top hat. These aristocratic manners were tempered with modernizing guidance”.
• 5
  The method was therefore used in the class following the general recess, a moment when students likely had a meal. The time may have been strategically chosen, considering that we tend to feel slower after lunch. In some places, the custom of taking a “siesta” (a nap after lunch) is even cultivated. The idea that the Polish system was dynamic and possibly even entertaining, making the task of memorizing chronology less burdensome, may explain the choice for the two o’clock lesson.
• 6
  I located a letter sent by Abílio Borges to Mário Carneiro, dated July 9, 1870, and written from Paris, in the manuscripts section of the Geographical and Historical Institute of Bahia.
• 7
  Letter from Count Zaba to the Council of Public Instruction of the Court. General Archive of the City of Rio de Janeiro (AGCRJ), codex 11.3.34.
• 8
  The commercial agreement between Félix Zaba and General Józef Bem was signed in 1842 during the general’s trip to London, when he participated in a public demonstration of the methodology before an influential audience in the English educational scene (cf. Morning Herald, 14 abr. 1842).
• 9
  In the Brazilian edition (1870), there are references to the States of the Río de la Plata and to the Empire of Brazil. In the Canadian (1874) and Australian (1877) editions, both were replaced by the generic term “Colonies.” A comparison of the editions also reveals the inclusion of historical facts related to the history of the country where the work was published. Clearly, Zaba was concerned with including information relevant to local readers. In the Brazilian edition, for instance, there are references to the “Abdication of Dom Pedro I” (nineteenth century), the “Paraguayan War” (nineteenth century), and the construction of the “Buenos Aires-Córdoba Railway.” The latter two, which reveal the incorporation of historically significant regional events related to war and technical development in South America, were likely added after Zaba’s visit to Argentina. The 1870 Brazilian version includes six additional pages compared to the 1874 Canadian and 1877 Australian editions and omits the information that General Bem was a friend of the author (Lima, 2023c).
• 10
  By analogy to what Frances Yates (2007, p. 20) characterizes as classical. Yates investigated how people from Antiquity to the Renaissance developed and used elaborate memory systems to retain and retrieve information. She argues that the art of memory — i.e., “the technique of imprinting ‘places’ and ‘images’ on memory” — was part of education and culture for centuries, playing a significant role in the dissemination and preservation of knowledge.
• 11
  On Adams’s work, I recommend Matt Baker’s video, “Adams Synchronological Chart or Map of History: I Have Some Strong Opinions About It!”, published on YouTube on April 15, 2023. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOy2Nx78940.
• 12
  The same used by the Zaba Method.
• 13
  The nineteenth century and its advances in lithography and color printing, enabled the creation of more sophisticated and accessible materials, consolidating the role of historical charts in both popular and academic culture. (Rosenberg; Grafton, 2013; Andrés, 2013; Uphoff, 2009).
• 14
  The title listed in the Catálogo do Colégio Abílio da Exposição Pedagógica do Rio de Janeiro de 1883 (Colégio Abílio Catalog for the Rio de Janeiro Pedagogical Exhibition in 1883) is in Portuguese, but so far, no copy of Adams’s Synchronological Chart published in Brazil has been located. In the article Tudo ao mesmo tempo agora - o mapa sincronológico de Sebastian Adams (All at the Same Time Now - the Synchronological Chart of Sebastian Adams), written by Maria Clara for the USP digital humanities group website and published on April 7, 2014, there is no mention of Brazilian editions of the material. Available at: https://humanidadesdigitais.fflch.usp.br/. Access on: March 05, 2025.
• 15
  I found evidence of appropriation in The Juvenile Instructor (1899, p. 328-329), which announced the color printing of Elder George Reynolds’s chart — a work which, in the words of the journal, followed “somewhat in the style of Adams’s Synchronological Chart.”
• 16
  According to historiography, his reign lasted from 1521 to 1525; however, in the Mexican version of Adams’s chart, the dates are listed as 1498 to 1525.
• 17
  Cf. Reconpilación de leyes, derechos y providencias de los poderes legislativo y ejecutivo de la unión formada por la redacción del Diario Oficial. Tomo XXXIX, julio a diciembre de 1882.
• 18
  The website www.historywallcharts.eu (accessed on March 30, 2025) hosts more than 1,750 digitized historical maps and charts, including examples of various chronologies produced in European countries.
• 19
  Lima (2023c) traces the circulation of the Zaba Method and shows — via advertisements, articles, and teachers’ reports — how certain features of the materials, such as visuality, adaptability, and simplicity, were key of the Polish system’s appeal in educational publishing markets in various regions since the 1840s. There were cases of appropriation by teachers who sought to adapt the methodology to the needs of their own classes and/or schools.

• Responsible editor - Editor-in-chief:
  Angela Scalabrin Coutinho.

Data availability

The entire dataset supporting the results of this study was published in the article itself.

Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  23 Feb 2026
• Date of issue
  2026

History

• Received
  19 Mar 2025
• Accepted
  27 May 2025