The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections has recently acquired the following item:
La difesa della razza. Rome, Società anonima istituto romano di arti grafiche di Tumminelli. 117 issues, dating from August 1938- June 1943.
Published biweekly from August 5, 1938, to June 20, 1943, La difesa della razza (The Defense of the race) encouraged a new consciousness of racial politics among the literate Italian populace. Distributed widely through public schools, universities, and libraries, the publication was designed to closely resemble a journal of popular science with contributions from anthropologists, biologists, sociologists and historians. Its primary objective, however, was to disseminate the Fascist government’s agenda of anti-Semitic politics and propaganda.
The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections recently purchased a nearly complete run (117 of 118 issues) of the periodical ranging from Year I, no. 1 (5 August 1938) to Year VI, no. 15 (5 June 1943). The set is missing its final issue but this will be added to the collection when a copy becomes available on the market.