Our Notes & References

“The first Constitution of modern Romania”, one of the first books printed by a most important Romanian literary figure, “the father of Romanian literature” (Tănăsescu): a crisp example of the first edition, in the original printed wrappers with the woodcut emblem of Romania.

This ‘Organic Regulation’ served as the earliest constitution of Wallachia in 1832, until it merged with the Principality of Moldavia in 1859 to form the foundations of modern Romania. A subject to the Ottoman Empire since the 15th century, Wallachia had experienced some national-patriotic sentiments when Greece began its liberation movement from the Porte in 1821. In 1831, under temporary Russian administration following the defeat of the Turks in the Russo-Turkish War of 1828-29, Wallachia became the autonomous ‘Principality of Wallachia’, but still tributary to the Ottoman Empire; another Danube Principality was founded shortly afterwards, Moldavia, which also received a similar ‘Organic Regulation’ in 1832.

The Regulation laid the foundations of parliamentarism in both Romanian Principalities. Loosely based on the French Constitution of 1814, the Regulation initiated a series of significant reforms, which were designed to modernise the mechanics of government and the relations within the local societies; it abolished the death penalty, tortures and punishments such as hand amputations. Although the Church kept some political authority, the Regulation stipulated its separation from the State and the division of the different powers of government. Additionally, it included an article discussing the improvement of life conditions of the local Roma population.

The Regulation was ordered by Count Pavel Kiselev (1788-1872), who led the Russian military administration of Wallachia in 1829-34. It was published at the first Wallachian privately owned printing press run by the poet, scholar and translator Ion Eliade Radulescu (1802-72). “The father of Romanian literature [and] journalism” (Tănăsescu), Radulescu is considered to be “the most important personality in Romanian culture” of the first half of the 19th century (Drimba). He had bought the press together with relatives in 1830, and became its sole owner the same year as he issued the Regulation, in 1832.

Radulescu printed the Regulation in the Romanian transitional alphabet – a significant step in the re-Latinisation of the Romanian language, which started in 1828 and was completed by the time of the unification of Romania in 1862 (while the Orthodox Church continued to use Cyrillic characters up until 1881). A few years later, in 1838, Radulescu printed another important legal work also in this alphabet: it was Caragea’s “Legiuire”, Wallachia’s first modern legal code, in its expanded, updated edition.

A rare work: we could trace only one other complete copy sold at auction outside Romania, 20 years ago; Worldcat locates 4 physical copies in the US (Yale Law School, Dalhousie Uni., University of Chicago and of Arizona) and 4 copies in Europe (Uni. Hamburg, Bayerische Staatsbibl., Staatsbibl. zu Berlin and, in Romania, the Central University Library Eugen Todoran).

Bibliography

Vladimir Drimba, “I. Heliade Radulescu, Scrieri alese”. Postfata si cronologie de Constantin Maciuca. Editura Albatros, Bucuresti, 1984, capitolul Postfata, p.194.

Tanta Tnăsescu, “Ion Heliade-Radulescu. Sanctuarul Presei Romanesti – in imagini si cuvinte”, Uniunea Ziaristilor Profesionisti din Romania, 2022.