La République française 1848

La RÉpublique franCaise (Feb.-March, 1848)

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The 1st issue no. 1 samedi 26 Février, 1848	The last issue no. 30 mardi 28 mars, 1848

[Created: 25 Aug. 2014]
[Updated: January 31, 2023 ]

Introduction

Unfortunately, there are 2 issues missing from the BNF: no. 16, lundi 13 mars 1848 and no. 24, mardi 21 mars 1848. (Any assistance in locating the missing issues would be much appreciated).

The entry in Hatin's book gives the following information: 1848: La République française. Daily journal. Signed: the editors: F. Bastiat, Hippolyte Castille, Molinari. Appeared 26 February to 28 March. 30 issues. There were 2 editions of the 1st issue (one page only) and 2 editions of the second issue (of two pages). Hation quotes at some length the opening two sections from the first issue with this explanation:

Nous avons cité un peu longuement, parce que c'est une des premières voix qui s'élevèrent au milieu des barricades. Cette République française était venue au monde, comme on lé voit, presque en même temps que la République tout court, celle de Bareste. Olindes Rodrigues essaya un rapprochement entre les deux feuilles; mais déjà, ajoute M. Castille, qui nous fournit ce renseignement, de toutes les imprimeries de Paris surgissaient une multitude de journaux de toutes nuances, écrits dans tous les patois auxquels peut prêter l'élasticité de l'idiome parisien.

Eugène Hatin, Bibliographie historique et critique de la presse périodique française, ou Catalogue systématique et raisonné de tous les écrits périodiques de quelque valeur publiées ou ayant circulé en France depuis l'origine du journal jusqu'à nos jours, avec extraits, notes historiques, critiques et morales, indication des prix que les principaux journaux ont atteints dans les ventes publiques, etc. Précédé d'un essai historique et statistique sur la naissance et les progrès de la presse périodique dans les deux mondes (Paris: Didot frères, fils, 1866).

Bastiat's name is given first as one of the 3 editors for only the first 5 issues ("Fred Bastiat"), after which Hippolyte Castille and Molinari are listed as the sole editors. Presumably he had a less active role in the paper when he left Paris to work on his campaign for election to the Constituent Asembly representing his district of Les Landes, which he won in the 23 April election. There are also some articles signed by Alcide Fonteyraud and Frédéric Bastiat, although most were unsigned. Several unsigned articles were attributed to Bastiat (by Molinari) and included in Paillottet's edition of Bastiat's Oeuvres complètes.

The typical issue was 4 pages long, with editorial comments taking up much of the first page, followed by a review and summary of the major journals and newspapers, publication of government decrees and announcements, snippets of "Diverse Facts" and news, a section on foreign news, news about the stock market, and then at the end a list of what was showing in the theatres and operas around Paris (no doubt Molinari's work given his strong interest in government subsidies to the theatre which he wrote about several times). A very nice anthology could be made of all the opening editorial comments for each issue of La République française.

Bastiat's contributions to the journal are listed as follows in the Oeuvres complètes. There is some confusion with the dates as Paillottet gives the date at the head of the article (probably the date it was written) which differs from the date of the issue (the date it was printed and hit the streets):

OC, vol. 7, 42. Sous la République. Article paru dans La République Française, Paris, 26 février 1848
OC, vol. 7, 43. Article 2. Article paru dans La République Française, 26 février 1848
OC, vol. 7, 44. Article 3. Article paru dans La République Française, 27 février 1848
OC, vol. 7, 45. Article 4. Article paru dans La République Française, Paris, 27 février 1848
OC, vol. 7, 46. Article 5. Article paru dans La République Française, 27 février 1848
OC, vol. 7, 47. Article 6. Article paru dans La République Française, Paris, 28 février 1848
OC, vol. 7, 48. Les Rois doivent désarmer. [La République française, n° du 29 février 1848.]
OC, vol. 7, 49. Les sous-préfectures. [La République française, n° du 29 février 1848.]
OC, vol. 7, 50. Article 6. Article paru dans La République Française, Paris, 29 février 1848 (or 1 March???)
OC, vol. 7, 51. La presse parisienne. N° du 1er mars 1848 de la République française.
OC, vol. 7, 52. Pétition d’un économiste. N° du 2 mars 1848 de la République française.
OC, vol. 7, 53. Liberté d’enseignement. N° du 4 mars 1848 de la République française.
OC, vol. 7, 54. Curée des places. N° du 5 mars 1848 de la République française.
OC, vol. 7, 55. Entraves et taxes. N° du 6 mars 1848 de la République française.
OC, vol. 2, (68.) Petites affiches de Jacques Bonhomme [Small posters by Jacques Bonhomme] [12 March 1848, La République française]
- I. Soulagement immédiat du peuple [The Immediate Relief of the People]
- II. Funeste remède [A Disastrous Remedy]
OC, vol. 2, (69.) Circulaires d'un ministère introuvable [Circulars from a Government that is Nowhere to be Found] [19 March 1848, La République française]

Source

Bibliothèque Nationale de France. La République française [Texte imprimé] : journal quotidien. 26 févr.-28 mars 1848 (n° 1-30). Publication : Paris : [s.n.], 1848. Notice n° : FRBNF32853034

The mottos under the main title read: "Liberté. - Égalité. - Fraternité." (Liberty. Equality. Fraternity) [on the left] and "Justice. - Économie. - Ordre." (Justice. Economy. Order) [on the right]. This suggests that the ediutors were attempting to appeal to both the left and the right with their journal.

No. 1, 26 fév. 1848

[facs. PDF 2.6 MB]

Note: The first issue was only one page in length. It began with a statement (unsigned) about why they supported the Republic and a list of reforms which they hoped the new Republic would introduce. The first part of this statement is included in Hatin's information about the journal. Another detailed list of reforms the journal supported can be found in issue no. 25, 22 Mars, which was published just prior to the 23 April elections. The journal supported a list of liberal candidates which included Bastiat of course and described the shared platform of this liberal bloc. The journal appeared the day after a provisional Government was announced. PM Guizot resigned on 23 Feb.; Louis Philippe abdicated on 24 Feb. and a Provisional Govt. was established later that day; the Second Republic was declared on 25 Feb.; the National Workshops and other socialist measures were enacted on 26 Feb., the day the journal began.