Cesare Poma, Consul in Tianjin, and the First Italian Journal in China: A Thwarted Editorial Initiative

Abstract

This article reassesses the short-lived Bollettino Italiano—the first Italian periodical published in China, announced in L’illus- trazione italiana on 4 May 1902. Founded by Cesare Poma, Ital- ian Consul in Tianjin, the Bollettino grew out of Poma’s biblio- graphic pursuits and his conviction that a printed platform was needed to engage the Chinese public sphere. Based on Poma’s papers in the Vatican Apostolic Library (featured in the exhi- bition En route!) and contemporary Italian and foreign press sources, the study reconstructs the periodical’s production, cir- culation, and reception, and probes the political and institu- tional causes of its premature demise. Ultimately, the Italian government’s failure to deploy the press as an instrument of cultural diplomacy consigned the initiative to obscurity. Recov- ering Poma’s project restores an early instance of press-based intercultural engagement prior to the more overt propaganda efforts of the 1930s.