A very interesting work on socialism in South America, written by Estevan Echeverria and entitled Dogma socialista de la Asociación Mayo, precedido de una ojeada retrospectiva sobre el movimiento intelectual en el Plata desde el año 37. It was printed in the year 1846 in Montevideo.
First edition, one of the earliest works published and produced in South America about socialism, undoubtedly one of the most important political and philosophical productions of its time, written by an influential thinker of the first half of the 19th century.
Esteban Echeverría was born in Buenos Aires in 1805, in his youth he moved to France for a period of 5 years, there he clearly got impregnated with European modern ideals, returning to Argentina when Juan Manuel de Rosas was already ruling with an iron fist the Provincias Unidas del Rio de la Plata, which allowed little to none foreign influence, and was adverse to intellectual progress, especially if politically opposed to the regime. In Buenos Aires he participated actively in the reunions of the Salon Literario, created by the bookseller and writer Marcos Sastre, he edited the first literary manifestations of the Romanticism in the Spanish language to be published in Argentina. The group was integrated by him, Juan Maria Gutierrez and Juan Bautista Alberdi, it was soon closed and a new, secret association was created, strongly opposed to the Rosas administration: called the Asociacion de Mayo, it produced a Credo (or a pronunciation of beliefs), which is here greatly expanded, and published in Uruguay, during Echeverria’s exile.
The Dogma Socialista contains an eclectic synthesis of the European liberal thought of the time, it was an intellectual lighthouse to the Argentina that was to be formed after Rosas gave up power. Unfortunately, Echeverria didn’t live to see it, as he died in exile, consumed by poverty.
“Pero el desarrollo de la guerra declarada por Rosas contra la Confederación Peruano Boliviana y la inminencia de un conflicto con Francia, hechos a los que nos referiremos en seguida, acrecentaron las agresiones veladas o directas y aconsejaron el paso a la clandestinidad de los miembros del Salón Literario. Ello ocurrió en julio de 1838 tras la venta a precio vil de los libros de Sastre, quien abandonó Buenos Aires. El grupo, al que se tildaba de afrancesado, se dio el nombre de Asociación de la Joven Generación Argentina, tomando como modelo, en su organización y objetivos, a la Giovine Italia, del admirado Giuseppe Mazzini. Tras haberse aprobado ocultamente las Palabras simbólicas del Código o declaración de los principios que constituyen la creencia social de la República Argentina, luego conocido como Dogma Socialista, en cuya elaboración participaron Echeverría y Alberdi, éste, temeroso de las consecuencias, pidió pasaporte y en agosto de 1838 cruzó a Montevideo. Mientras tanto, Echeverría puso prudente distancia refugiándose en la estancia Los Talas. Antes o después, emigraron otros adversarios de Rosas, que al llegar a la ciudad oriental no tardaron en alternar con poetas y escritores uruguayos y en divulgar sus ideas a través de la prensa o en salones donde se bailaba y discutía sin comer una rosquilla por la generalizada pobreza reinante.” (Juan Manuel de Rosas y los bloqueos al Río de la Plata).
Extremely rare, no copy recorded at auction records; we can locate 5 copies at Harvard (Houghton), DIBAM (Chile), Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, BNF (apparently incomplete), BL.
