Dal precettorato alle scuole private. Il caso del Mezzogiorno sette-ottocentesco

This essay focuses on the private schools system in Southern Italy in the period ranging from Napoleonic age to National unification. The reconstruction points out the wide diffusion of this kind of schools, due to a variety of factors. Among them, the most important were: the largely permissive laws on this subject, widespread unemployment among intellectuals, which forced many graduates to find a job as private teachers, and the better ability of private schools (in comparison with their state-sponsored counterparts) to adapt to the needs of pupils.