Foreword by the FEB.

As one of the oldest and most constant disseminators of the works of Allan Kardec, the Brazilian Spiritist Federation has the pleasing satisfaction of beginning, with the publication of this volume, the complete translation of the first twelve tomes of the Spiritist Review, corresponding to the years 1858 to 1869, as part of the tributes that will be paid in 2004 on the occasion of the bicentennial of the birth of the Codifier of the Spiritist Doctrine. The initiative we now undertake aims to make accessible to readers of the Portuguese language yet another translation of the first and most important periodical for the diffusion of Spiritism, an extraordinary collection comprising nearly five thousand pages, for the most part from the pen of Allan Kardec himself, contained in the volumes that received his direct and personal influence.

Right at the introduction with which he opened the first issue, in referring to the Spiritist Review, Allan Kardec says: “The usefulness of a special organ that keeps the public abreast of the progress of this new Science and forewarns it against the excesses of credulity, as well as of skepticism, cannot be contested. It is just such a gap that we propose to fill with the publication of this Review, with a view to offering a means of communication to all those who are interested in these questions and to bind together, by a common tie, those who understand the Spiritist Doctrine in its true moral point of view: the practice of good and evangelical charity toward all.”[1] It was yet another manifestation of the Codifier’s clairvoyance. The success of The Spirits’ Book, brought to light the previous year, had surpassed all expectations. Allan Kardec received from all sides reports of extraordinary Spiritist facts, correspondence inquiring about this or that point of the doctrine, visits from people who longed for greater clarifications, including dignitaries of the local nobility and of other countries, not to mention newspaper clippings, with their often insulting commentaries on Spiritism. Until then France did not have a single newspaper that conveyed the great voices of Heaven, which were already making themselves heard in an orderly and systematic manner in all latitudes of the planet, for “the times had come in which all things were to be restored to their true meaning, to dispel the darkness, confound the proud, and glorify the just.”[2] A different situation was occurring in other countries; the United States, for example, had seventeen newspapers, in the English language, devoted to the mediumistic manifestations that, in modern times, had just broken out at Hydesville. Realizing the imperious necessity of creating a paper that would periodically keep the students of Spiritist phenomena abreast of what was happening in the world and instruct them in an orderly manner on the most varied doctrinal questions, Allan Kardec set to work, despite lacking the time necessary for such an undertaking, considering his personal occupations, including those directed to his own subsistence. At first, he contemplated the patronage of someone who might collaborate financially with the work, but providential reasons caused him not to succeed in such an intent. In fact, consulting his Spiritual Guides as to the feasibility of the plan, he was advised to persevere in his purpose, not to be intimidated in the face of difficulties, and that there would be time for everything.

With regard to the presentation of the periodical, the communicating Spirit transmitted these timely instructions: “It will be necessary for you to devote much care to it, in order to lay the foundations of a good and lasting success. To present it defective, it would be better to do nothing, for the first impression may decide its future. At the outset, you must take care to satisfy curiosity; to combine the serious with the agreeable: the serious to attract men of Science, the agreeable to delight the common people. This part is essential, but the other is more important, since without it the newspaper would lack a solid foundation. In short, monotony must be avoided by means of variety, joining solid instruction to interest.”[3] Such instructions would be scrupulously observed by the Codifier. Finally, on January 1, 1858, the first issue of the Spiritist Review was brought to light, at the Codifier’s own account and risk, having no subscriber and no financial aid. As Kardec would say later, “… I had nothing to regret, for the result surpassed my expectation and this newspaper became a powerful auxiliary to me.”[4]

According to the very words of its founder, the Review would be a free tribune, “in which, however, the discussion will never depart from the norms of the most strict propriety.” And he added: “In a word: we will discuss, but we will not dispute.”[5]

Though the task was burdensome to him, Allan Kardec directed the Spiritist Review until March 31, 1869, being responsible also for the April fascicle of the same year, which had already been composed before his disincarnation. He worked alone, without the hindrance of any foreign will. “He ceaselessly faced the harshest struggles, the most violent tempests, in order to leave to the continuers of his beloved review a field of work less arduous and of more well-defined horizons.”[6] In its first twelve years, the Spiritist Review was the complement and the development of the doctrinal work begun by Allan Kardec and, also, its principal mainstay. Besides the Codifier, the Review counted on the collaboration of hundreds of participants, incarnate and disincarnate, French and of other nations, among whom scientists, men of letters, philosophers, religious figures, and men of the people, each one helping to lay, in his respective sphere of action, the foundations upon which the prodigious edifice of Spiritism would be raised. For it is this inestimable collection that the Brazilian Spiritist Federation has the pleasure of placing at the disposal of the students of the Spiritist Doctrine and of all those interested in its diffusion.

Brasília (DF), April 18, 2004.

Brazilian Spiritist Federation.

Nestor João Masotti – President.

[1] Spiritist Review, Introduction, January/1858.

[2] The Gospel According to Spiritism, Preface.

[3] Posthumous Works, 2nd part, article on the Spiritist Review.

[4] Posthumous Works, 2nd part, in a note to the article on the Spiritist Review.

[5] Spiritist Review, 1858, Introduction.

[6] Allan Kardec vol. III, chapter I, item 2. Zeus Wantuil.