The Threads of a History

The Edition of Bartolomé de las Casas’s Works by Juan Antonio Llorente

Abstract

We analyse the editorial activity of Juan Antonio Llorente, a Spanish afrancesado, who published a selection of Bartolomé de las Casas’s works in Paris, 1822. He had the aid of bishop Henri Grégoire and included texts by him and by Hispanic American priests Servando Teresa de Mier and Gregorio Funes. Within the general framework of re-editions of Las Casas’s work that Hispanic American men of letters would produce to support independence, Llorente’s edition stands apart because it simultaneously presents the idea of an illegitimate conquest
of America by Spain and defends the right of contemporary Spain to its American dominions. Moreover, he contributed to a more complete study
of the works of Las Casas, presenting his legacy as universal and at the same time enlarging the available textual corpus, thereby establishing a field of Atlantic scholarly discussion between European and Hispanic American countries.