The Secret Life of a Secret Book: The Barcelona Edition of Francisco I. Madero's Manual espírita

The edition from Barcelona's Casa Editorial Maucci,
date unknown, but after 1913.
(The original Manual espirita was published
in Mexico in 1911.)
Its author, Bhima, was Francisco I. Madero,
leader of Mexico's 1910 Revolution
and President of Mexico, 1911-1913.

Very few people in Mexico know about Francisco I. Madero's Manual espírita, which I translated into English for the first time as Spiritist Manual on its centennial, 2011. It is true, as I detail in my new book, Metaphysical Odyssey into the Mexican Revolution: Francisco I. Madero and His Secret Book, Spiritist Manual, that some of Madero's political enemies knew about it-- in fact, the Reyistas published "Bhima's" book, unmasking the author, Mexico's president-elect at the time, precisely in order to damage his reputation. As every Mexican schoolchild learns, President Madero, Mexico's "Apostle of Democracy," was murdered in the coup d'etat of 1913. It would seem that the few thousand copies of his Manual espírita then sank into oblivion.

While some Mexican historians-- Enrique Krauze, Yolia Tortolero, Manual Guerra de Luna and Alejandro Rosas, among others-- have written about Madero's Spiritism, it remains a "not ready for prime time subject," and I can tell you it is not easy to find a copy of the Manual espírita.

In 2000, Alejandro Rosas brought out the collected works of Madero, including his Manual espírita,  but that volume of that series is now scarce. (I did find a copy in a used bookstore in Mexico City, but it took some effort.) Gustavo de Anda published an edition in the 1970s but I have yet to find a copy of that. And, as I lately learned, a very small print run sponsored by the State of Quintano Roo came out in 2000. Bottom line: until 2010, when a Mexican government website commemorating the Revolution of 1910 posted a PDF (as one of a multitude of historical documents), one had to have access to a major library or get into the archives to see it. A copy is in Mexico's Ministry of Finance, which holds the Francisco I. Madero archive; another is in the remains of his personal library in the Centro de Estudios de la Historia de Mexico CARSO in Mexico City.

Since I collect rare books, I had an eye out for the 1911 edition of the Manual espirita. Every week or so, I would (and still do) surf onto Google and the rare book dealers websites to look for it. One day, bingo, there it was-- Bhima's Manual espírita, "circa 1900." Apparently the seller did not realize that Bhima was Madero's pseudonym. The price was-- well, let's call it peanuts. So I bought it. Imagine my surprise when I opened the package to find Bhima's Manual espírita, ancient browned paper, the same exact text but slightly different design-- from the Casa Editorial Maucci of Barcelona!

It did not have a date of publication but at the bottom of the title page it said:

BARCELONA

CASA EDITORIAL MAUCCI

Gran medalla de oro en las Exposiciones de Viena de 1903, Madred 1907, Budapest 1907, Londres 1913, París 1913, y gran premio en la de Buenos Aires 1910.

So: this places the date of its publication in Spain sometime after 1913. 

And now I learn, on this Spanish website, Grupo Espírita de la Palma, that there is an edition of Madero's Manual espírita published in Spain in 1924.

I suspect, given that Casa Editorial Maucci seemed to be taking medals so frequently, that the 1924 edition was not the one I bought-- I suspect that mine came out earlier, closer to 1913. But that's just a guess.

Nonetheless, whether there were one or more editions out of Barcelona, first published closer to 1913 or later, in 1924, the existence of an edition from Spain strongly suggests that Madero's Manual espírita had a wider influence on the Spiritist movement than I or any Mexican historians previously suspected.

And there may be more. I understand that Spanish translations of the French Spiritist books (and perhaps also the Manual espírita itself?), played a key role in bringing Spiritism to the Philippines. It certainly will be interesting to see what turns up.

>Watch a 3 minute video about another very rare book, the 1907 translation of Leon Denis' Después de la muerte by Ignacio Mariscal, then Mexico's Foreign Minister, which was sponsored by Francisco I. Madero and his father.

>For more about my book, Metaphysical Odyssey into the Mexican Revolution: Francisco I. Madero and His Secret Book, Spiritist Manual, I invite you to visit the webpage. It is now available in both Kindle and paperback. 

>The Spanish edition, Odisea metafísica hacia la Revolución Mexicana, which includes a reprint of the original Manual espírita, will be available soon. Is now available.

> More blog posts about this book-- and other information for researchers 

COMMENTS

Helios 6 and Francisco I. Madero's Manual Espírita (Spiritist Manual)

With many thanks to Manual Guerra de Luna, author of Los Madero: La saga liberal, and the screenplay for the film 1910: La revolución espírita, who so kindly gave me a copy of this issue, on my Resources for Researchers page, I've just posted some scans and translation of the cover and selected pages from Helios 6, 1911.

Edited by Spiritist author Rogelio Fernández Güell, and supported by Madero,  Helios was the main Spiritist publication in Mexico. This issue celebrated both Madero's election as President (when he had yet to take office) and the publication of his Spiritist Manual-- asserting, disingenuously, that Madero was not the author, "Bhima."

A frankly evangelical document, the Spiritist Manual stands as the clearest statement of the esoteric philosophy behind Madero's launching of the Revolution of 1910. I've published my translation in a Kindle edition and am about to bring out a revised and expanded edition for 2013.

Here's the cover:

English translation:

NUMBER 6.  VOLUME IV.-
Mexico, October 1911

HELIOS

Publication of the Standing Board of the Second Congress of the Mexican and Latin American Spiritist Federation and Confederation

Tip. "Artística," Corner of Soto 4 and de la Violeta 1.
MEXICO

Here's the half page ad that appeared on the back cover:

NEW PUBLICATION

"Spiritist Manual"

BY

BHIMA.

This very important work by a renowned Mexican philosopher has just been brought to public light. A grand edition is availble at minimal prices in order to help spread the principles of our sublime philosophy.

PRICES Bound in high quality paper, $0.20. Bound in heavy paper, $025.

For 10 or more copies, 20 percent discount.

Send orders to the Office of the Standing Committee of the 2nd Spiritist Congress,

Violeta 4, Box 1500, Mexico City.

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View the rest of the pages and translations from Helios here:
http://www.cmmayo.com/SPIRITISTMANUAL/spiritist-m-resources-HELIOS-revista.html

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>>Listen in to my talk for San Miguel PEN about this most unusual book and my translation here:
http://www.cmmayo.com/SPIRITISTMANUAL/spiritist-m-resources-podcasts.html

THE SECRET BOOK OF THE LEADER OF MEXICO'S 1910 REVOLUTION, SPIRITIST MANUAL, BY FRANCISCO I. MADERO, TRANSLATED BY C.M. MAYO

Here's the official press release:

THE SECRET BOOK OF THE LEADER OF MEXICO'S 1910 REVOLUTION, SPIRITIST MANUAL (1911) BY FRANCISCO I. MADERO, TRANSLATED BY C.M. MAYO (DANCING CHIVA, 2011)

NOVEMBER 11, 2011
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MORE INFORMATION: Click here

WHO: Francisco I. Madero, leader of the Mexican Revolution of 1910, and President of Mexico from 1911-1913, author (as "Bhima") of the Manual espírita, originally published in 1911.

The translator, C.M. Mayo, is author of several works on Mexico, most recently, The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire (Unbridled Books, 2009) which was named a Library Journal Best Book 2009. Mayo is also editor of Mexico: A Traveler's Literary Companion (Whereabouts Press, 2006), a portrait of Mexico in the fiction and literary prose of 24 contemporary Mexican writers.

WHAT: The first English language translation of Manual espírita as the Spiritist Manual.

WHY: This year marks the centennial of this book which is, in the words of C.M. Mayo, "an essential work for understanding Madero, the Mexican Revolution of 1910 and his presidency."

WHERE: Cyberspace, space, and Mexico City.

Cyberspace: The book has been published on Kindle, available on www.amazon.com
(Other digital and print editions are forthcoming.)

Space: Madero claims in his book that that is where we all end up, so maybe that's where he is.

Mexico City: C.M. Mayo's office.


WHEN: The book is published today, 11-11-11.
2011 marks the book's centennial.

ABOUT THE SPIRITIST MANUAL

ABOUT FRANCISCO I. MADERO

ABOUT THE TRANSLATOR, C.M. MAYO

Q & A WITH C.M. MAYO

RESOURCES FOR RESEARCHERS

ONE MINUTE VIDEO (TRAILER)




Dancing Chiva Literary Arts
www.dancingchiva.com

Kindle Edition is Live: Francisco I. Madero's Secret Book of 1911, The Spiritist Manual, Translated by Yours Truly

The Kindle edition of the Spiritist Manual, my translation of Francisco I. Madero's Manual espírita, is available-- as of today (though the official pub date is this Friday)-- at www.amazon.com
I will be giving a lecture about this most unusual book on Thursday November 10 as part of the "Author's Sala" reading series in San Miguel de Allende. Click here for more about that.

Apart from its extraordinary content, and the fact that Madero's Spiritist Manual is one of the earliest Spanish language manifestos of this new religion, what stands out about this work is that it was prepared precisely during the brief period when Madero's political career was rocketing to its apex: he was campaigning throughout the country for the Mexican Presidency, then fighting the Mexican Revolution both in Mexico and, variously, from exile in Texas and New Orleans; and then, running again for the presidency— which, later in 1911, he was to win.

As Mexican historians Enrique Krauze, Yolia Tortolero, Alejandro Rosas and Manuel Guerra, among others, have emphasized, Madero's Spiritism undergirded his political philosophy and actions as candidate for the presidency, as leader of the Revolution, and as President, many of which were incomprehensible to and/or misinterpreted by both his supporters and his adversaries. For this reason, the Spiritist Manual is a fundamentally important work for anyone who would study Madero and the Mexican Revolution.

It is also a vital work in the history of both Spiritism itself and modern gnostic Christianity. Whatever one's personal beliefs may be, it would be intellectually naïve to dismiss Madero's Spiritism as mere superstition, as most people who first hear of it and indeed, most of his biographers, do. Spiritism emerged in a context of the mid- to late 19th century's far-reaching scientific experientation; moreover, it has its place alongside other religions that emerged in the same century, among them, Christian Science, Mormonism, Spiritualism, and Theosophy.

>> Q & A here.

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After publishing so many books the old-fashioned way, it has been such a strange experience to publish a book first as an e-book. This afternoon, I caught a typo after it was uploaded onto Kindle, which I fixed immediately, and Kindle registered the change within the hour. Anyone who has published (print) books knows that stomach-churning, wide-awake-at-3-am anguish about typos. (No matter how many times and how many people check it, there is always a typo, or thirty-nine.) What a luxury it is to be able to make corrections!

And another ginormous change: I couldn't-- and I shouldn't-- give a squished fig about manoevering this book into brick-and-mortar bookstores. Not that it doesn't have readers, but because it's so unusual, and very specifically Mexican, I don't think it would get far into ye olde agent-house-distributor-store-shelf labyrinth-o-rama. So what I want for this book are the right "tags" for google searches and the like. I spent two hours this evening going over the book's entry on amazon.com and this newfangled shelfari.com thing. What a world we've plopped into! In publishing, as in so many other areas of the economy, wierdly, it's becoming drastically constricted even while opportunities are dramatically expanding.

But yes, there will be a print edition, as well as an iBook and Nook edition of the Spiritist Manual. Stay tuned.