{"id":3480,"date":"2021-03-08T11:36:25","date_gmt":"2021-03-08T10:36:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bpa.es\/bibliographic-fund\/"},"modified":"2021-03-08T11:36:26","modified_gmt":"2021-03-08T10:36:26","slug":"bibliographic-fund","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/bpa.es\/en\/bibliographic-fund\/","title":{"rendered":"Bibliographic fund"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Bibliographic fund<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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The Ar\u00fas Public Library was created in 1895 as a gift to the people of Barcelona, and it initially held over 24.000 volumes which encompassed the whole of human knowledge. This initial fund included many disciplines like philosophy, religion, social sciences, law, languages, biology, medicine, art, music, literature, geography and history, as well as general encyclopaedia and press. <\/p>\n

Due to the fact that the Library was forced to shut down in 1939 and could not reopen until 1967, the original fund was never censured or decimated in any way and it is still available in the same shape and form it was originally. <\/p>\n

Nowadays, the Ar\u00fas Public Library is a reserch center specialized in Freemasonry and the labour movement (including anarchism, comunism and cooperativism). The bibliographic fund has recieved many donations from institutions and private citizens. In 2011, the Library also recieved the Joan Proubasta Sherlock Holmes Collection. <\/p>\n

The fund keeps on growing thanks to many donations, which are accepted so long are connected to the Library’s specialized themes. <\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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80.000 volumes
aprox. <\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Last recount: 2020<\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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FREEMASONRY<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The Ar\u00fas Library hosts a noteworthy selection of works concerning Freemasonry, some from its founder’s own private library (as Rossend Ar\u00fas was a prominent member of the Catalan Freemasonry) and some from later donations. The freemason fund was thankfully preserved in its entirety due to the Library’s shutdown during Franco’s regime, and perhaps thanks to government members pourpusfully looking the other way in a time when Freemasonry was forbidden and severely punished. <\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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The Ar\u00fas Library Freemasonry fund consists of Spanish, Portugese and Latin American works, which underline the excellent connection the Catalan Freemasonry had with many countries across the sea, particularly Cuba. Some works are: Calendario mas\u00f3nico de la isla de Cuba, La Habana, 1879-1881; Bolet\u00edn oficial de la Gran Logia Simb\u00f3lica Catalana,\u00a0Barcelona, 1886-1887, 1904-1907, 1909 and 1914;\u00a0Boletim official do Grande Oriente Lusitano Unido, Lisbon, 1880-1885; Reglament de\u00a0Familia Confederada, Barcelona, 1879; Apuntes hist\u00f3ricos de la Orden de Caballeros Francmasones de la Lengua o Naci\u00f3n Espa\u00f1ola, Barcelona, 1882; Ritual del grado de compa\u00f1ero, by J.M. Ragon, Barcelona, 1871;\u00a0El consultor del mas\u00f3n, d\u2019A. Almeida, Madrid, 1883-1884). There are many magazines as well, such as La revista mas\u00f3nica del Per\u00fa, Lima, 1890-1891;\u00a0El mallete: \u00f3rgano de la masoner\u00eda barcelonesa, Barcelona, 1881-1883; and\u00a0La concordia, Barcelona, 1888-1890.
\nThe most peculiar aspect of this fund is the fact that many of its works are documents detailing the inner works of the Lodges. In particular, the documents concerning the Avant Lodge, founded by Ar\u00fas himself, are very revealing: inner notes and circulars (1882-1887), a symbolic painting by a mysterious “D’Artagnan” named Avant and dedicated to Ar\u00fas, and his own diary detailing what he calls his “freemason memoires”. <\/p>\n

One of the most outstanding works in this fund is the Diccionario enciclop\u00e9dico de la masoner\u00eda (La Habana, 1891 or 1892), written by Lloren\u00e7 Frau and Llu\u00eds ricard Fors, among others, and directed by Ar\u00fas himself. The freethinking and spiritist press is also interesting, with publishings like La Luz (1885-1887) which Ar\u00fas directed; El librepensador (Gr\u00e0cia, 1869) and La humanidad (Barcelona, 1870-1872), which is considered by prominent historian Pere S\u00e1nchez as a vital document to understand Catalan social history during the Democratic Sexennial. <\/p>\n

Another point of interest in this collection is the small but curious antimasonry works, which mainly outline the catholic campaign against Freemasonry, aprticularly in the late 1800’s. Some works are: Los misterios de la francmasoner\u00eda (1887), and El Vaticano y los masones (1887), both by L\u00e9o Taxil; and Qu\u00e8 \u00e9s la ma\u00e7oneria?, a 1932 edition of the book by bishop Josep Torras i Bages, who believed Freemasonry to be an “enemy to the motherland” and partial to free love. <\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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