[CORSE] Cahier des doléances, demandes et représentations de l'ordre du Tiers-État de l'Isle de Corse, arrêté par l'Assemblée générale de cet ordre convoquée à Bastia le 18 Mai 1789

Rare first bilingual edition of the cahier of grievances of the Third Estate of Corsica, printed in Bastia in 1789 by Étienne Batini, “Printer to the King and to the General Assembly of the Three Orders”. One quarto volume of 75 pages on laid paper. The French text, printed in roman type, faces its Italian translation in italic under the title Quaderno delle doglianze, dimande, e rappresentazioni dell’Ordine del Terzo Stato dell’Isola di Corsica. The title-page bears a vignette of the arms of Corsica, a Moor’s head surmounted by a royal crown and supported by two winged genii; an ornamental initial opens each version. Cf. Starace 4747; Conlon, XXIV, 89:1617, who records only the 32-page octavo edition. Not in Roland Bonaparte.

Original stitched state in plain grey-paper wrappers. A few paper repairs to the lower right margins of the opening leaves; foxing to the upper and lower right corners, without affecting the text. A well-preserved and attractive copy.

French and Italian printed facing one another reflect very concretely the situation of Corsica in 1789: having passed under French sovereignty after the Treaty of Versailles of 1768, the island still remained deeply connected with the Italian language in its written culture. French and Italian face one another page by page, while the Moor’s head, emblem of Corsica, appears on the title-page: the very form of the book thus brings together several allegiances at a moment when the political order was being transformed.

The general assembly of the island’s three orders opened in Bastia on 18 May 1789, in the church of the Fathers of Christian Doctrine. The Third Estate adopted this cahier at the beginning of June; a few days later, Christophe Saliceti and Pierre-Paul Colonna de Cesari Rocca were elected deputies, with Barthélemy Arena and Ange Chiappe as substitutes. The text opens with an unequivocal declaration: the Third Estate professes its “vive joie” at seeing Corsica “réunie à la Nation Française” and become an “integral part of this Monarchy”.

This adhesion did not, however, erase the island’s own demands. Alongside claims common to many cahiers throughout the kingdom - regular meetings of the Estates-General, freedom of the press, judicial reform, and access for the Third Estate to offices - appear measures specific to Corsica: the right for Corsican ships to display the Moor’s head, the establishment of a lazaretto for Levantine trade, the creation of a free port, preference in appointments for Corsicans and French residents of the island, and finally the restoration at Corte of a university funded by the revenues of religious houses.

Six months later, on 30 November 1789, the Constituent Assembly decreed, on Saliceti’s motion, that Corsica formed part of the French Empire. The text therefore affirms at once Corsica’s adhesion to France and the continued assertion of demands specific to the island.

Printed in Bastia in both French and Italian, this cahier gives particularly tangible form to Corsica’s position in 1789: an island now incorporated into the French political framework, while still retaining in its language, emblems and demands a distinct identity of its own.