A certain connection at a literary level between Don Bosco and “The Educator” from which Don Bosco draws some intuition or which support some of his intuitions, can be easily documented. The first important books written by Don Bosco, are: Church History (l845), Bible History) (l847). “The Educator” reviews these works quite positively. The first book was reviewed by a Fr. Ramello, and defined as “a new and very useful book” written by “a learned and good priest” who was convinced of the need to have, as a great educative principle, the enlightening of the mind in order to make good the heart.520 M.G, a priest (Michael Garelli of Mondovi?) offers a more in-depth review of the second book in an article entitled: “School Teacher’s Letter on Bible History written for Schools by Don Bosco”. He speaks of:

the experiential origin of the book, its moral objectives, the conversational but clear Italian

employed and the spirit which gently moves and leans towards what is good.521

An echo of the review of the first book is clearly heard in Don Bosco's preface to the Bible History book. Don Bosco quotes almost verbatim the positive expressions used by the reviewer:

In every page I had clearly in mind this principle: to enlighten the mind to render the heart

good.522

On the same page, Don Bosco draws from the first number of The Primary School Teacher the idea of “popularising knowledge”523 and from a contribution by Vincent Garelli Aporti's idea of the usefulness of images in teaching Bible History.524 It is hard to define more exactly the connection Don Bosco might have had, in terms of ideals, methods and organization.525

Even though Don Bosco had cordial and friendly relationships with some contemporary theorists in pedagogy like Antonio Rosmini, Gian Antonio Rayneri, Giuseppe Allievo (the last two held the chair of science at the University of Turin during the years 1847-1867 and 1868-1911 respectively), he never had or at least it cannot be proved that he had, an obvious involvement in pedagogical science of the official and academic kind.526

8. Books about the spiritual guidance of youth

While studying the sources of the successful religious handbook Don Bosco wrote, The Companion of Youth, 1847, Peter Stella discovered a distinctive style of writing for the Christian education of young people. This literature carries the distinctive marks of what would become Don Bosco's formation program, practical, accompanied by rules and proposed by him both verbally and in writing. There is no doubt that the book was inspired and enriched by this literature and that it had no small impact on

(Milan: Vita e Pensiero, 1979), 383-404.

520L’Educatore Primario, n. 34, 10 December 1845, 576.

521 L’Educatore, n. 17, 1 July 1848, 542-543.

522 G. Bosco, Storia sacra per uso delle scuole utile ad ogni stato di persone, (Turin: tipografi-editori, 1847), 7, OE III 7. 523 A. Fecia, “Introduzione”, L’Educatore Primario, n. 1, 10 January 1845, 1-2

524“ L’Educatore Primario”, n. 24, 30 August 1845, 404-407 (Dell’insegamento della storia sacra col mezzo di tavole).

Don Bosco cites it with indication V. Varelli; in the second edition (Turin: Speirani e Tortone, 1853), the first generic

indication is substituted by the following citation: “V. F. Aporti Educato. Prim. Vol 1 406”; in the article of Garelli

some illustrations areincluded on the theme from a text by F. Aporti beginning with the words used by Don Bosco:

“Sacred History is taught to children with the help of pictures representing the facts which refer to them” 406. 525 As an exception, perhaps, a short essay unpublished until 1929, with the title, “Avvertenza intorno all’uso da farsi nelle

scuole delle storie sacre tradotte da lingua straniera”, which shows elements similar to one written by Fr Cristoforo

Bonavino which appeared in L’Educatore, March 1847, 140-148, with the title “Esame critico su parecchi compendi di

Storia Sacra”.

526 Fr Gian Anotnio Rayneri and layman Giuseppe Allievo, notable exponents of Christian spiritual pedagogy, exercise an

obvious direct influence on two well-known Salesians, Fr Francesco Cerruti and Fr Giulio Barberis. The unpublished

Appunti di Pedagogia Sacraby Barberis reveals huge dependence on their writings. Cf. J. M. Prellezzo, “G. A. Rayneri

negli scritti pedagogici salesiani”, in Orientamenti Pedagogici40 (1993): 1039-1063