Publishing initiatives

The numerous publishing initiatives championed by Francesc Cambó form part of a highly ambitious and large-scale project. As explained by the patron himself, the first initiative, the Fundació Bernat Metge (FBM), was conceived ‘prior to the dictatorship [Primo de Rivera’s, 1923-1930], and work began on the publication of its first volumes before the coup […]’. He went on to clarify the objective of the global plan:

Long before I came into possession of my fortune, I harboured a desire for the rejuvenated Catalan language to be crystallised for a long period of time within versions of the Bible and the Greek and Latin classics, produced with the utmost care and with commercial spirit subordinating to that which is patriotic and cultural […] (Cambó, Memòries, 1981).

That same desire led to the creation of both the aforementioned FBM and the Fundació Bíblica Catalana, the former of which is both the most long-established of the literary endeavours founded by Francesc Cambó, dating from 1922 to the present day, as well as the most highly valued. It has been defined as ‘the most important component of Francesc Cambó’s legacy in terms of providing the country with what it had been denied, […] a key element in the reconstruction of a culture’ (Mayer, El món de Cambó. Permanència i canvi en el seu 125è Aniversari, 2001).

The objective of the acclaimed Col·lecció dels Clàssics Grecs i Llatins, published as bilingual editions with a brief critical and historical-literary note, was, in the words of the first series director, Joan Estelrich:

[…] to awaken a new intuitive and creative humanism in Catalonia—not the mediocre humanism of pedantic philologists, unable to rediscover any life in these timeless works. Our programme also aims to awaken interest in everyone. The recognition of an elite few would not be sufficient to satisfy us[U1] , as we are not looking to simply create an indulgence of national vanity or an artificial culture of patriotism. (Estelrich, Fundació Bernat Metge. Una col·lecció catalana dels clàssics grecs i llatins, 1922)

 

References

Cambó 1981: Francesc Cambó, Memòries (1876-1936), Barcelona: Alpha.

Estelrich 1922: Joan Estelrich, Fundació Bernat Metge. Una col·lecció catalana dels clàssics grecs i llatins, Barcelona, Editorial Catalana, 1922. Online version

Mayer 2001: Marc Mayer, “La pervivència dels clàssics com a fonament de la cultura catalana universal”, in El món de Cambó. Permanència i canvi en el seu 125è Aniversari, Barcelona: Alpha, p. 269-280.