Renzo Canestrari wrote several handouts and handbooks of psychology from the late 1960s to 2000s. His handbooks dealt with the main topics of general psychology and some topics of developmental, differential, comparative and animal psychology. He always aimed to provide accurate information not only on the most recent items of experimental evidence, but also on the theoretical frameworks within which they were gathered. In this manner he attempted to accompany the acquisition of information useful for the professional career with a cultural growth of students. This educational aim was associated to that of enhancing the theoretical impact of the studies carried out by Italian scholars in the postwar period. In this paper the content, cultural impact and didactic methodology of the four most important handbooks (published in 1970, 1974, 1984 and 1997) are described in detail.