Quatorze licoes sobre philosophia yogi e occultismo oriental: a yoga book and its transnational editorial transit from Chicago to Sao Paulo (1903-1910)

Abstract

Quatorze licoes sobre philosophia yogi e occultismo oriental is a yoga book written in Portuguese, signed by Yogi Ramacharaka, published in Sao Paulo by the Brasil-Psychico-Astrologico publishing house in 1910. However, contrary to what it may seem, it was not written by an Indian guru, nor is it the work of a Brazilian author: it is a translation of Fourteen lessons in yogi philosophy and oriental occultism (1903), by the American writer and editor William Walker Atkinson (1862-1932). The purpose of this article is to understand how his editorial transit from Chicago to Sao Paulo took place. We defend the hypothesis that this was only possible thanks to the efforts of the Portuguese-Brazilian editor Antonio Olivio Rodrigues (1879-1943), who mediated the authorization, translation, edition and sale of this book in Sao Paulo's publishing market.