translations

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Anselme Bellegarrigue

February 2, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur
I’ve posted a translation of a biographical account of Anselme Bellegarrigue, written in 1862 by Joseph Noulens, an old friend and collaborator of Bellegarrigue. It’s absolutely jam-packed with entertaining stories and useful details of Bellegarrigue’s life and career. But it’s really just the tip of the iceberg. It’s already led me to Bellegarrigue’s contributions to La Mosaïque du Midi and Le Palais de Cristal, which were not political, but are certainly interesting, and it’s given me enough clues to have substantially widened my search for texts and biographical material. Give it a read, and stay tuned for more information.
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The trial of Joseph Déjacque

February 1, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur
An account of Joseph Déjacque’s 1851 trial for inciting hatred and contempt between classes, and against the government, is now available in English translation, over on From the Libertarian Library. It’s a lot of fun, and even the poetry translated relatively well.
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Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, “Explanations Presented to the Public Prosecutor” (1842)

January 23, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur
  Explanations Presented to the Public Prosecutor on the Right of Property — COURT OF ASSIZE OF THE DEPARTMENT OF DOUBS (Session of February 3, 1842.) Last February 3, there appeared before the jury of Besançon, the author of a brochure entitled Warning to the Proprietors, or Letter to M. Considerant, editor of la Phalange, on a defense of property, on the charge: 1) of attacking property; 2) of provoking various classes of citizens to hatred; 3) of inciting hatred and contempt of the government and king; 4) of offense against the catholic religion. It is not our intention to […]
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Déjacque’s “Authority—Dictatorship,” revised translation

January 22, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur
I’ve posted a revised translation of Joseph Déjacque’s essay, “Authority—Dictatorship,” also known by the title “Down with the Bosses!” My original working translation was not the most elegant of attempts, and it’s nice to have a substantially improved version available to readers. Slight revisions of “The Universal Circulus” and “The Theory of Infinitesimal Humanities” are on their way as well, as I start to work seriously on an anthology of Déjacque’s work.  I’ve combed through library catalogs and the pages Le Libertaire for important and representative material, and it looks like these texts are key: Down with the Bosses! The […]
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P.-J. Proudhon, The Celebration of Sunday — V

January 16, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur
THE CELEBRATION OF SUNDAY [Continued from Part IV] V. If I have accomplished the task that I imposed on myself in beginning these researches, it remains certain and proven: 1. That the institution of the Sabbath was conceived on the principles of a higher politics, the greatest secret of which consisted in making the means arise from the end; 2. That this institution, analyzed in the circumstances of its origin and its reform, supposes liberty, equality, supremacy of religion and the laws, executive power in the people, absolute dependence of the functionaries, means of subsistence the same for all; 3. […]
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P.-J. Proudhon, The Celebration of Sunday — IV

January 16, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur
THE CELEBRATION OF SUNDAY [Continued from Part III] IV It remains to examine the importance of the Sunday celebration with regard to public hygiene. This text will perhaps appear rather petty after the serious subjects that I have treated; and I do not know if, by reversing the order of the question proposed, I could reasonably flatter myself that I had fulfilled the law of progression so recommended by the rhetoricians. However, I do not despair of succeeding: the reader will decide if my boldness has been felicitous. There is no doubt that Moses, in establishing the law of the […]
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P.-J. Proudhon, The Celebration of Sunday — III

January 15, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur
THE CELEBRATION OF SUNDAY [Continued from Part II] III I approach what is perhaps the most difficult part of my subject, because of the pitfall that it seems to cover: moral utility. What is the influence, on the morals of individuals and of society, of the observation of Sunday considered in itself, independent of the force that religion lends to it, and setting aside faith in dogmas and mysteries? Such is, at least, the manner in which I take up the question, and I do not think, I admit, that one could understand it otherwise. It is not a question […]
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The Celebration continues

January 15, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur
I’ve posted another section from my translation of Proudhon’s The Celebration of Sunday, and I have revised the sections previously posted. I finished a rough translation of the whole book a couple of days ago, and am now roughly half-way through revising and editing the full translation. The section I just posted includes the material on “theft” that I started to discuss in December. UPDATE: Section III is now also available.
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P.-J. Proudhon, The Celebration of Sunday — II

January 15, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur
THE CELEBRATION OF SUNDAY [continued from Part I] II What I have said of the civil effects of the Sabbath sufficiently explains the importance that the legislator attached to it, when he made the stability of the State depend on it. But that institution itself had need of safeguards: it demanded to be defended against the negligence of some, against the ill will of others, and against the ignorance and barbarity of all. Now, it is from the guarantees with which Moses surrounded it that we have seen born the influence of the Sabbath on family relations. For such is […]