Produção e recepção de um livro de viagem: Reise in Brasilien in den Jahren, 1817-1820, de Johann Baptist von Spix e Carl Friedrich Phillip von Martius

The aim of this article is to analyze the production and reception of the Reise in Brasilien, a report written by Johann von Spix and Carl Friedrich von Martius after their trip to Brazil between 1817 and 1820. It will be shown that the construction of such a report obeys a series of variables that enable the travelers to write a scientific product and, at the same time, to comply with the state requirements that underpinned the voyage of exploration. The article shows that the Reise in Brasilien is a “final product”, a text based on travel experiences, but modified and optimized after the travelers return from the trip. These activities construct an ideal image of science linked to the standards and criteria of their time. The existence of a public readership, the dissemination of the first reports and letters sent to and from Brazil, the public circulation of the research in the society of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences, and the time needed for writing are decisively involved in this process.