Un Saggio militante. Le traduzioni dell’Essai sur les garanties individuelles: una storia atlantica

The history of the Essai sur les garanties individuelles (1818) testifies the transformation of a work of political theory into an instrument of action. The author, P.-C.-F. Daunou, assumed international relevance thanks to the proposal of a state model capable of guaranteeing everywhere individual freedoms. The translations, all situated at crucial moments in their respective national histories, are linked by a political use, which became the ideological compass to legitimize their patriotic claims. The examination of the documents will demonstrate the openness to the Atlantic world in the author’s reflections, who identified overseas lands on which to implant those libertarian and republican principles that had become obsolete in the continent.