Publicaciones de La Escuela Moderna

Publicaciones de La Escuela Moderna (PLEM) was a Spanish publishing house created in 1901 to provide textbooks and educational materials for the Escuela Moderna (Modern School), the libertarian, rationalist and secular educational project founded by the anarchist thinker and pedagogue Francesc Ferrer i Guàrdia. The school was inaugurated in September 1901, and in the same year the publishing arm prepared and printed its inaugural work, the Compendio de Historia Universal by Clemencia Jacquinet, the school's first director. From the outset, PLEM was conceived as an integral part of the school's pedagogical mission: it would supply manuals and didactic materials consistent with a libertarian, rationalist and lay educational line. The catalogue quickly expanded beyond history to include works for learning to read and write, such as the Cartilla filológica española (1903), the Compendio razonado de gramática española (1905) and Correspondencia escolar (1905), as well as manuals of geography, natural sciences, arithmetic and French. Alongside textbooks, PLEM published reading books and literary titles, including the anti-war narrative El infierno del soldado (1906) by Juan de la Hire, the successful novel Sembrando flores (1906) by Federico Urales, and social plays such as Las Tenazas (1904) by Paul Hervieu and Floreal (1906) by Jean Pierre Chardon. At this stage, works on revolutionary syndicalism from the Biblioteca de la Huelga General (1901–1904), directed by Ignacio Clarià, were also integrated into PLEM's holdings. Although the Escuela Moderna was closed by the authorities in 1906 following the involvement of one of its teachers in an attempted attack against Alfonso XIII, the publishing house continued its activity with several publications, some of them pamphleteering in style, such as ABC sindicalista (1908) by Georges Yvetot. After Ferrer i Guàrdia was executed in 1909, accused without foundation of having fomented the riots of the Tragic Week in July 1909, his friend Lorenzo Portet, to whom Ferrer i Guàrdia had bequeathed the enterprise, took over the direction of the publishing house. During this second stage (1909–1920), some of the founder's works were published posthumously, notably La Escuela Moderna (1912), which was translated into many languages. Other notable titles included Evolución proletaria (1915) by Anselmo Lorenzo and Montjuich (1917) by Ignasi Bó i Singla, as well as a new collection, Los grandes pensadores (1915–1919), which published works such as Creación y evolución by Herbert Spencer, El socialismo by Jean Jaurès, El utilitarismo by John Stuart Mill, Miscelánea filosófica by Voltaire and Las classes jornaleras by Francesc Pi i Maragall. Around 1920, three years after the death of Lorenzo Portet, his widow sold the property to Casa Maucci, a commercial publishing house that republished the Los grandes pensadores collection and a significant part of the catalogue, adding it to the Maucci catalogue under the heading Publicaciones de Cultura y Enseñanza. PLEM thus ceased to exist as an independent imprint, though its titles and legacy continued to circulate through Maucci and through the broader Ferrer i Guàrdia documentary heritage.

Publicaciones de La Escuela Moderna (PLEM) was founded in 1901 alongside the Escuela Moderna, the libertarian, rationalist and secular school inaugurated in September 1901 by the anarchist thinker and pedagogue Francesc Ferrer i Guàrdia. Ferrer i Guàrdia had projected the creation of a publishing house that could provide the new educational centre with textbooks and didactic materials consistent with its pedagogical line. That same year, PLEM prepared and printed the Compendio de Historia Universal by Clemencia Jacquinet, the school's first director, as the firm's inaugural work. Soon the catalogue expanded to include works for learning to read and write — the Cartilla filológica española (1903), the Compendio razonado de gramática española (1905) and Correspondencia escolar (1905) — as well as manuals of geography, natural sciences, arithmetic and French. It also published reading books such as the anti-war narrative El infierno del soldado (1906) by Juan de la Hire and the successful novel Sembrando flores (1906) by Federico Urales, and social plays such as Las Tenazas (1904) by Paul Hervieu and Floreal (1906) by Jean Pierre Chardon. At this stage, works on revolutionary syndicalism from the Biblioteca de la Huelga General (1901–1904), directed by Ignacio Clarià, were integrated into PLEM's holdings. Although the Escuela Moderna was closed by the authorities in 1906 following the involvement of one of its teachers in an attempted attack against Alfonso XIII, the publishing house continued its activity with several publications, some of them pamphleteering in style, such as ABC sindicalista (1908) by Georges Yvetot. After Ferrer i Guàrdia was executed in 1909, accused without foundation of having fomented the riots of the Tragic Week in July 1909, his friend Lorenzo Portet, to whom Ferrer i Guàrdia had bequeathed the enterprise, assumed the direction of the publishing house. During this second stage (1909–1920), some of the founder's works were published posthumously, among which La Escuela Moderna (1912) stands out, translated into many languages. Other notable titles include Evolución proletaria (1915) by Anselmo Lorenzo and Montjuich (1917) by Ignasi Bó i Singla, and especially a new collection, Los grandes pensadores (1915–1919), which published works such as Creación y evolución by Herbert Spencer, El socialismo by Jean Jaurès, El utilitarismo by John Stuart Mill, Miscelánea filosófica by Voltaire and Las classes jornaleras by Francesc Pi i Maragall, giving an idea of the variety of works of thought published there. Around 1920, three years after the death of Lorenzo Portet, his widow sold the property to Casa Maucci, a commercial publishing house that republished the Los grandes pensadores collection and a significant part of the catalogue, adding it to the Maucci catalogue under the heading Publicaciones de Cultura y Enseñanza. PLEM thus ended its independent existence, though its titles and legacy continued to circulate through Maucci and through the broader Ferrer i Guàrdia documentary heritage.

• 1920

  Around this year, three years after Lorenzo Portet's death, his widow sells the property to Casa Maucci, which republishes the catalogue under Publicaciones de Cultura y Enseñanza.

• 1917

  Publication of Montjuich by Ignasi Bó i Singla.

• 1915

  Publication of Evolución proletaria by Anselmo Lorenzo; launch of the Los grandes pensadores collection (1915–1919).

• 1912

  Posthumous publication of La Escuela Moderna, later translated into many languages.

• 1909

  Execution of Francesc Ferrer i Guàrdia; Lorenzo Portet assumes direction of the publishing house.

• 1908

  Publication of ABC sindicalista by Georges Yvetot.

• 1906

  Escuela Moderna closed by authorities; PLEM continues publishing, including El infierno del soldado and Sembrando flores.

• 1905

  Publication of the Compendio razonado de gramática española and Correspondencia escolar.

• 1904

  Publication of the social play Las Tenazas by Paul Hervieu.

• 1903

  Publication of the Cartilla filológica española.

• 1901

  Escuela Moderna inaugurated in September; Publicaciones de La Escuela Moderna founded and prints its inaugural work, the Compendio de Historia Universal by Clemencia Jacquinet.

Anarchist, rationalist and secular educational publisher tied to the Escuela Moderna movement.

• 1901

  Compendio de Historia Universal

• 1903

  Cartilla filológica española

• 1904

  Las Tenazas

• 1905

  Compendio razonado de gramática española

• 1905

  Correspondencia escolar

• 1906

  El infierno del soldado

• 1906

  Sembrando flores

• 1906

  Floreal

• 1908

  ABC sindicalista

• 1912

  La Escuela Moderna

• 1915

  Evolución proletaria

• 1917

  Montjuich

• 1915

  Los grandes pensadores (collection)

1. 1Publicaciones de La Escuela Moderna — Wikidatawikidata.org
2. 2Publicaciones de La Escuela Moderna — Wikipédia (fr)fr.wikipedia.org
3. 3Editorial Publicaciones de La Escuela Moderna — Biblioteca Ferrer i Guàrdiabiblioteca.ferrerguardia.org