The Spanish Constitution of 1812 reappears in 1820-21
Details
1820-21
The Spanish Constitution of 1812 reappears in Naples and Turin
Pictures of title pages from Naples 1820 and Turin 1821.
Enacted in 1812 by a reformist assembly, the Cortes, during the absence of King Fernando VII in captivity in France, the Constitución política de la monarquía española came to furnish a totemic model for constitutionalist opponents of absolutism outside of Spain. Rapidly translated into other European languages, in Italian-speaking states it circulated in several different translations, some unattributed, others purporting to have been printed outside Italy, and there was no single 'authorised version'. Successive editions pirated earlier translations, occasionally combined parts from more than one, or printed entirely fresh ones. In Naples in 1820, the government adopted the Spanish Constitution and itself issued an approved translation; the Constitution roused great popular enthusiasm and other independent translations were also printed locally by unnamed printers. Two cheap editions of one of these are illustrated here. Curiously, one of these independent translations, not the one issued by the Neapolitan Government, was used the following year to provide the text of the officially-commissioned Stamperia Reale edition printed in Turin when the Constitution was adopted there with some local modifications. The 1821 Turin edition, with a page-size of 226 x 141 mm in an untrimmed copy, was a much larger print than its unattributed Naples predecessors, different editions of which may measure between 169 x 97 mm and 179 x 110 mm, an economical format which lends itself to cheap production, ready portability, and easy concealment.
The Spanish Constitution of 1812 reappears in Naples and Turin
Pictures of title pages from Naples 1820 and Turin 1821.
Enacted in 1812 by a reformist assembly, the Cortes, during the absence of King Fernando VII in captivity in France, the Constitución política de la monarquía española came to furnish a totemic model for constitutionalist opponents of absolutism outside of Spain. Rapidly translated into other European languages, in Italian-speaking states it circulated in several different translations, some unattributed, others purporting to have been printed outside Italy, and there was no single 'authorised version'. Successive editions pirated earlier translations, occasionally combined parts from more than one, or printed entirely fresh ones. In Naples in 1820, the government adopted the Spanish Constitution and itself issued an approved translation; the Constitution roused great popular enthusiasm and other independent translations were also printed locally by unnamed printers. Two cheap editions of one of these are illustrated here. Curiously, one of these independent translations, not the one issued by the Neapolitan Government, was used the following year to provide the text of the officially-commissioned Stamperia Reale edition printed in Turin when the Constitution was adopted there with some local modifications. The 1821 Turin edition, with a page-size of 226 x 141 mm in an untrimmed copy, was a much larger print than its unattributed Naples predecessors, different editions of which may measure between 169 x 97 mm and 179 x 110 mm, an economical format which lends itself to cheap production, ready portability, and easy concealment.