Catalan literature
Modern Spanish authors also wrote about counts-troubadours. Among them is Martí Riquer and his book «Troubadours: literary history and texts» («Los trovadores: historia literaria y textos»), Barcelona: Planeta, 1975.
The year 1748 is commonly cited as the date of origin of Andorran literature. The first Andorran writer was a lawyer, Antoni Fiter i Rossell, who wrote a book «Manual Digest». This piece, as well as most of the following books, was written in Catalan – the official language of Andorra. Yet this book is not a work of fiction. Its genre is historiography, so it consists of tales of the Valleys, describes cultural and religious traditions, customs and some historical facts. «Manual Digest» is often called «The Bible of Andorra».
The original manuscript is housed in Ordino, where the author of the book was from. Two copies of this book exist. One of them is kept in the Museum of the Parliament of Andorra’s Casa de la Vall, the second one – in the bishopric of the Spanish city of La Seu d’Urgell. (This is just across the Andorran/Spanish border and the seat of Andorra’s Episcopal Co-Prince).
In 1763 the second book in the historiography genre was published by an Andorran writer. It was «Politar Аndorrà» by Antoni Puig. The book tells about the privileges and the powers of the Andorran government.
Both books perfectly complement each other showing that Andorra was not completely isolated from Europe in the 18th century.
The next Andorran writer-historian was Pierre-Roch de Roussillou. He depicted the simple way of life of Andorran citizens in his book “De l’Andorre”, written in 1823. In this book Andorra was shown as a country that was free of the vices and filth found in other European countries, even though it was partially isolated. In the writer’s opinion, being a bit “lost” was the secret of Andorra’s modesty and virtue. The inhabitants of this country still lived the same way as their ancestors had lived 500 years before. The author wrote «Nothing has changed since those days. Even articles of luxury, as a part of modern civilization, are more likely to arouse fear in Andorrans than desire».
Another historiographic book was written in the same century, in 1838 to be precise. The title of the book was «Relació sobre la vall d’Andorra» and the author – Tomàs Junoy – was a monk from Anyos village. This book reminds one of a small encyclopedia that collected together information about citizens, mineral resources, agriculture and industry as well as custom regulations in the Principality.
Present Andorran theorists of literature think that the first signs of romanticism hide beneath its objective narrative. I also think that this book is an antecedent of the romantic fiction of Andorra. Later, we will find elements of romanticism in Lluís Ignasi i Fiter’s books. In 1874, he wrote «The story and life of the Holy Mother Meritxell» («Història i novena de Nostra Senyora de Meritxell») about the principal patroness of Andorra. Despite the main plot of the book, as stated in its title, the author also tells about the river Valira, about the Pyrenees Mountains covered with green grass, about lakes, spring leaves, ice and snow and about loneliness that is full of melancholy and sadness.
Later, the place of historiography and romanticism was occupied by “travel notes” written by foreign travelers. One of the first writers who mentioned Andorra in his «Diary of travels in Catalonia» («Diario de los viajes hechos en Cataluña») was a Spanish lawyer Francisco Zamora. In 1851, Henri Castillon d’Aspet wrote down the story of the Valley of Andorra in his book «Histoire d’Ax et de la Vallée d’Andorre». The book consists not only of picturesque sketches, but also contains a chemical analyses of the thermal waters, a description of its use in therapeutic treatment and also information about the origin of the thermal springs and their medicinal properties. https://all-andorra.com/catalan-literature/
The next author is Louis Boucoiran who wrote a historical guide «Ariege, Andorra and Catalonia» in 1854 (the full title of the book in French is «Ariège, Andorre et Catalogne: Guide historique, pittoresque et descriptif aux Bains d’Ussat et d’Ax contenant l’Historie de l’ancien pays de Foix et des ses Comtes jusqu’à Henri IV et Historie de la vallée d’Andorre jusqu’à nos jours»).
In 1856 a man from England, Fredrick Harold Deverell, published «Border lands of Spain and France: with an account of a visit to the Republic of Andorra». The book was published in London.