Fons Jordi Arquer. Correspondència (1939-1981)

2004. Pròleg de Rafael Aracil i Martí, 200 pp.

In the archives of the Centre for International Historical Studies of the Pavelló de la República, among the hundreds of boxes of material from the collection that Jordi Archer (Barcelona, 1907 – Perpignan, 1981) collected throughout his life, stand out more than thirty boxes that contain the correspondence maintained by him from 1939 to 1976, although he died in 1981. Thousands of letters and correspondents are kept here. The themes are always the same: war, exile, labour, movement, socialism, communism, and the future of Catalonia. Now we present a brief selection of a hundred (104 exactly, including four from George Orwell) to make known the interest of the character and the collection. Although he was a bibliophile, a researcher of the facts and of the men in war and of communism. All this, in short, makes his papers a key piece on the themes of communism, Catalonia and beyond. It is necessary to consider provisional the selection now presented, like a tasting. The thousands of accumulated letters demand a long and patient archival work, which the day that was realised will result in hundreds of exciting pages, if one wants with subjective and capricious opinions on Catalonia and the social left-winged. The selection work, the notes and the introduction have been prepared by Professor Josep Término i Ardèvol.