To the Government. (Paraná, Entre Ríos. 1853/1854)

Exceptional printed. Octavo (19.8 x 12 cm / 7.79 x 4.72 in), 1 sheet, blank, on a blue paper. Framed work.

Although it does not present a year or place of publication, the content of its poetry places us in the time and place. In full government of the Argentine Confederation and with the province of Buenos Aires in rebellion, the anonymous vate speaks to the Entre Ríos leader, although he emphasizes: "we praise nothing in him personally”. It does so by elevating the virtues of its government, upholding "peace and law" with a certain hand, and using the Constitution as an emblem. In those days a possible confrontation with Buenos Aires was predicted.

We have found other sheets that came out of the printing press in Paraná, they show off the very particular shield that the one offered here presents. About who has been the author of this poetry, it could well have been a lyrical creation of José Ruperto Pérez, editor of newspapers and creator of several cielitos. Pérez or another poet from Entre Ríos concludes these lines by stating:

"If the homeland is in danger,

Holding your virtuous march

Wield the rifle with honor”.

The country still could not find the necessary balance and the thunder of weapons confronted its children in civil wars that set back its historical evolution.

On the striking shield, Estanislao Zeballos maintains that it was designed by César Hipólito Bacle shortly after he inaugurated his establishment in Buenos Aires, back in 1828. This is how he describes it, drawn in the opposite way from the legal one: “that is, with the major axis of the ellipse in the horizontal direction, with Bacle's star at the top, clouds at the top of the arms and a garland instead of a laurel wreath”. (1) In times of the Argentine Confederation, that design was taken up again.

Notes:

1. Estanislao Zeballos: The Shield and the national colors. Journal of Law, History and Letters, Buenos Aires, 1900.

S. On. 4. L33