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.
Contr'un
Bellegarrigue’s “To the Point! To Action!!” and “Le Commanditaire”
I’ve posted a revised translation of Anselme Bellegarrigue’s “To the Point! To Action!!” (“Au Fait! Au Fait!!”) It is considerably more finished than the first version, though I reserve the right to come back and tinker with it some more one of these days. I find Bellegarrigue’s prose challenging, but I’ve grown rather fond of his style. He has a lot of the youthful brashness of Déjacque and Coeurderoy, but also a no-nonsense, bottom-line focus which means he often delivers his largely mutualist message in the voice of a jaded trader, and the result is often as entertaining as it […]
Anarchist Beginnings
Anselme Bellegarrigue, “Anarchy is Order” (1850)
[from Anarchy, A Journal of Order, No. 1] I.—Anarchy is Order. Were I to pay heed to the meaning generally attached to certain words, a common error having made anarchy a synonym of civil war, I should hold in horror the title that I have placed at the head of this publication, for I have a horror of civil war. I both honor and flatter myself in never having belonged to a group of conspirators or to a revolutionary battalion, because it shows, on the one hand, that I have been too honest to dupe the people, and, on the […]
Contr'un
To the Point! To Action!! (1 of 4)
To the Point! To Action!! AN INTERPRETATION OF THE DEMOCRATIC IDEA[Part 2] – [Part 3] – [Part 4] Anselme Bellegarrigue I am told that that I am governed for my own good. Now, since I pay my money to be governed, it follows that it is for my own good that I pay that money. This is possible, but it nevertheless deserves verification. Moreover, it is a fact that no one could be more familiar than me with the means of making myself happy. I still find it strange, incomprehensible, anti-natural, and extra-human, to devote oneself to the happiness of […]