poetry
E. Armand, “Un Portrait / A Portrait” (1906)
Un Portrait J’ai cloué sur le mur un portrait de Reclus, Dans un cadre en carton, car je ne suis pas riche. Je garde ce portrait, non pas comme un fétiche, Mais comme un souvenir […]
Elisée Reclus
Working Translations
Elisée Reclus, “Why Are We Anarchists?” (1899)
Pourquoi sommes-nous anarchistes ? Les quelques lignes qui suivent ne constituent pas un programme. Elles n’ont d’autre but que de justifier l’utilité qu’il y aurait d’élaborer un projet de programme qui serait soumis à l’étude, […]
From the Archives
Elisée Reclus’ Great Globe
M. ELISÉE RECLUS, the well-known geographer, in a pamphlet recently printed at Brussels, has elaborated a startling and even sensational proposal for the construction of a huge globe, on a scale of one hundred thousandth the actual size. […]
Working Translations
Elisée Reclus, “The Anarchist” (1902)
By definition, the anarchist is the free man, [1] the one who has no master. The ideas that he professes are indeed his own through reasoning. His will, springing from the understanding of things, focuses on a clearly defined aim; his acts are the direct realization of his individual intent. Alongside those who devoutly repeat the words of others or the traditional saying, who make their being bend and conform to the caprice of a powerful individual, or, what is still more grave, to the oscillations of the crowd, he alone is a man, he alone is conscious of his value in the face of all these spineless and inconsistent things that dare not live their own lives. […]
Anarchist Beginnings
Elisée Reclus, “The Development of Liberty in the World” (c. 1850)
The Development of Liberty in the World An Unpublished Study Elisée Reclus I. In past centuries, peoples only fought for their passions or their immediate interests; it was without remorse, it was even with gladness […]
Anarchist Beginnings
Elisée Reclus in the Era of Anarchy
I’ve been splitting the formative period of the anarchist tradition into two eras: an Era of Anarchy, running roughly from 1840 to 1880, and then an Era of Anarchism, running on to around 1920, with […]
Anarchist Beginnings
Elisée Reclus, “An Anarchist on Anarchy” (1884)
“It is a pity that such men as Elisée Reclus cannot be promptly shot.” – Providence Press To most Englishmen, the word Anarchy is so evil-sounding that ordinary readers of the Contemporary Review will […]
Bakunin Library
Bakunin to Elisée Reclus, February 15, 1875
February 15, 1875 – Lugano My very dear friend, I thank you so much for your kind words. I have never doubted your friendship. That feeling has always been mutual and I judge yours by […]
Uncategorized
Missing pieces
I’ve been working on a collection of short biographies of radical figures, sort of an introductory miscellany, and had been translating Elisée Reclus’ “John Brown” to include there. Gallica has a rough, but readable scan […]