Doctrinal circulations in criminal law 1764-1914

Abstract

AbstractAlthough criminal law books were comparatively rare before the middle of the eighteenth century, Beccaria’s Dei delitti e delle pene (1764) triggered the development of an enormous literature devoted to penal issues (from philosophical foundations to debates related to prisons) in Europe until 1914. In one and a half centuries, more than 20,000 books were published on these issues, of which about half were published in German lands and the remainder in Italy, France, Great Britain/United Kingdom, Spain, Portugal, Belgium and the Netherlands. Both philosophers and sociologists participated to these intellectual exchanges. This paper tries to analyse different ways for measuring the circulation of these texts (translations, quotations especially in footnotes, catalogues of private and public libraries, correspondence and travels). Although the debates were clearly transnational, there were also obstacles in the diffusion of foreign books. After evaluating these linguistic or cultural obstacles and considering the changing contexts between the first and second halves of the nineteenth century, this article outlines three conclusions about the globalisation and non-globalisation of legal concepts during this period.Keywords: criminal lawnineteenth centurylegal doctrinescirculationquotationslibraries Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Notes1 Rosamaria Loretelli, ‘The first English translation of Dei delitti e delle pene. A question of sources and modifications’ (2019) 4 Diciottesimo secolo 95. The French translation, Traité des Délits et des Peines, was completed by Morellet and published in 1766 with no indication of the publisher. The German translations, under the title Über Verbrechen und Strafen, were done by Wittenberg (Hamburg 1766), Bartholomaï (Ulm 1777) and Hommel (along with a commentary) (Breslau 1778). The Greek translation, Peri Amartématôn kai Poinôn, was completed by Coray (Baudelot & Eberhart 1802). And the Spanish translations, Tratado de los Delitos y de las Penas, were first done by Las Casas (Joachim Ibarra 1774) and then by an anonymous translator (Alban 1822).2 John D Bessler, The Birth of American Law: An Italian philosopher and the American Revolution (Carolina Academic Press, 2014).3 Paul F Grendler, The Universities of the Italian Renaissance (John Hopkins University Press, 2004) 449, 457, 460, 470–72. Although devoted professorships did not exist, lectures on criminal law were regularly delivered in Göttingen (by Mascov, Claproth, Böhmer and Meister, both father and son) and in Halle (by Klein). In France, criminal law courses appeared only with the 1804 reopening of law schools and they were linked with lectures on civil and criminal procedure.4 Cesare Beccaria, Traité des Délits et des Peines (Faustin Hélie ed, Guillaumin, 1856); Cesare Beccaria, Traité des délits et des peines (Faustin Hélie ed, 2nd edn, Guillaumin, 1870).5 This phrase first appeared at the end of the eighteenth century with the 1779 Penitentiary Act in Great Britain and Caleb Lownes’ work about the Penitentiary House of Philadelphia in 1793. See Thomas Nutz, Strafanstalt als Besserungsmaschine (Oldenburg, 2001).6 Friedrich Kappler, Handbuch der Literatur des Criminalrechts und dessen Philosophischer und Medizinischer Hülfswissenschaften (Scheible, 1838).7 Sylvia Kesper-Biermann and Diethelm Klippel, ‘Philosophische Strafrechtswissenschaft und Gesetzgebung: Die Neubegründung des Strafrechts zu Beginn des 19. Jahrhunderts’ in Sylvia Kesper-Biermann and Diethelm Klippel (eds), Kriminalität in Mittelalter und frühe Neuzeit: Soziale, rechtliche, philosophische Aspekte (Harrasowitz Verlag, 2007) 217a.8 Luigi Lacchè and Monica Stronati, Una Tribuna per le Scienze Criminali: La ‘Cultura’ delle Reviste nel Dibattito Penalistico tra Otto e Novecento (Eum, 2012).9 Immanuel Kant, Die Metaphysik der Sitten (Nicolovius, 1797); Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Grundlinien der Philosophie des Rechts (In der Nicolaischen Buchhandlung, 1821); Victor Cousin, ‘Du fondement de la pénalité’ (1826) 8 Thémis ou bibliothèque du jurisconsulte 105; Karl Christian Friedrich Krause, Handschriftlicher Nachlass Herausgegeben von Freunden und Schüler Desselben, II Vorlesungen über Rechtsphilosophie (A Brockhaus, 1874).10 Cesare Lombroso, L’Uomo Deliquente (U Hoepli 1876); Rafaelle Garofalo, Di un Criterio Positivo della Penalità (L Vallardi 1880); Enrico Ferri, I Nuovi Orizzonti del Diritto et della Procedura Penale (Nicola Zanichelli, 1881-1882).11 For a re-evaluation of the impact of the Spanish models of codification, particularly in South America, see Aniceto Masferrer (ed), The Western Codification of Penal Law: A Revision of the Myth of its Predominant French Influence (Springer, 2018).12 Hans Mohnhaupt, ‘Rechtsvergleichung in Mittermaiers „Kritische Zeitschrift für Rechtswissenschaft und Gesetzgebung des Auslands“ (1829-1856)’ in Michael Stolleis (ed), Juristische Zeitschriften: Die neue Medien des 18-20 Jahrhunderts (Klostermann, 1999) 279.13 Joseph Elzéar Ortolan, Cours de Législation Pénale Comparée (Joubert, 1841).14 Luigi Zuppetta, Corso Completo di Diritto Penale Comparato (Giuseppe Cataneo, 1863).15 Martine Kaluszynski, ‘Les Congrès internationaux d’anthropologie criminelle (1885-1914)’ (1989) 7 Mille neuf cent: Revue d’histoire intellectuelle 59.16 Michele Pifferi, Reinventing Punishment: A Comparative History of Criminology and Penology in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries (Oxford University Press, 2016).17 One has to add the publication of several German articles on criminal law and their subsequent translation into Italian by a professor from Pisa. See Francesco Antonio Mori, Scritti Germanici di Diritto Criminale (Andrea Nanni 1845-1846) 4 vols.18 Silvestre Pinheiro Ferreira, Cours de Droit Public Interne et Externe (Aillaud, 1830).19 Pifferi (n 16) 44.20 Franz von Liszt, Le Droit Criminel des États Européens: La Législation Pénale Comparée (Liebmann, 1894).21 Elisabeth Bellmann, Die Internationale Kriminalistische Vereinigung (1889-1933) (Peter Lang, 1994).22 On the so called ‘Marburg programme’, see Franz von Liszt, ‘Der Zweckgedanke im Strafrecht’ (1883) 3 ZStB 1.23 I am grateful to Henri Sergent, assistant-engineer at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, for the actualisation of these graphs.24 Giovanni Carmignani, Teoria delle Leggi di Sicurezza (Fratelli Nistri, 1832), vol 4, 373–410. Authors on the list included Bauer, Bentham, Bexon, Birnbaum, Cousin, Lucas, Charles Comte, Auguste Comte, Feuerbach, Grolman, Kant, Livingston, Mittermaier, Nypels, Rossi and Rey.25 Adolphe Chauveau and Faustin Hélie, Théorie du Code Pénal (Alex Gobelet, 1834). Four editions of their text were published between 1834 and 1863, with the second and third editions being reprints of the first one.26 Adolphe Chauveau and Faustin Hélie, Théorie du Code Pénal (Jean-Servais-Guillaume Nypels ed, Méline, Cans et Compagnie 1845) vol 4, XVII – LXXIII (citing Kappler and judging his work to be deficient on non-German books); Jean-Servais-Guillaume Nypels, Le Droit Pénal Français Progressif et Comparé (Bruylant-Christophe et Compagnie, 1863) vol 3.27 These titles are located close to Hélie’s books in the reserved part of the library. There is also no reason to suggest that Nantes city library, which did not have a law faculty at the time, would have bought such books in the nineteenth century.28 Immanuel Kant, Critique de la Raison Pratique (Jules Romain Barni tr, Ladrange Mezières 1848); Immanuel Kant, Éléments Métaphysiques de la Doctrine du Droit (Jules Romain Barni tr, Auguste Durand 1853).29 Faustin Hélie, Traité de l’Instruction Criminelle (Hingray, 1846) vol 2, 583–9 (citing Abegg, Feuerbach, Mittermaier, Henke and Grolman on crimes committed abroad); Faustin Hélie, Traité de l’Instruction Criminelle (Hingray, 1853) vol 5, 406 (citing Stübel and Weber on the law of evidence). On contacts between Hélie and Mittermaier, see Yannick Falélavaki, ‘L’histoire d’une conversion: la doctrine française du XIXe siècle et le recours à la comparaison juridique’ (PhD thesis, University of Rennes 1 2016) 147–53.30 Raoul de La Grasserie, Des Principes Sociologiques de la Criminologie (Giard et Brière, 1901).31 Louise Salmon (ed), Le Laboratoire de Gabriel Tarde: Des Manuscrits et une Bibliothèque pour les Sciences Sociales (CNRS éditions, 2014) l.32 Antonius Jammers, ‘Die Bibliothek des Heidelberger Juristen Karl Joseph Anton Mittermaier (1787-1867) und ihre Eingliederung in die Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg’ (1966) 3 Bibliothek und Wissenschaft 156.33 Lars Hendrick Riemer, Das Netzwerk der “Gefängnisfreunde” (1830-1872): Karl Josef Anton Mittermaiers Briefwechsels mit Europäischen Strafvollzugsexperten (Klostermann, 2005) 2 vols.34 Nutz (n 5) 255.35 Carl Joseph Anton Mittermaier, ‘Beurtheilung der neuesten criminalistischen Schriften’ (1834) 14 Neues Archiv des Criminalrechts 136.36 Jourdan discussed Kant’s philosophy and named Hegel as Kant’s disciple. He also cited Romagnosi on the foundation of the right to punish. See Athanase Jourdan, ‘Quelques réflexions sur l’histoire de la philosophie du droit en France’ (1826) 8 Thémis ou Bibliothèque du jurisconsulte 104.37 Carl Joseph Anton Mittermaier, ‘Renseignements nouveaux et récents sur l’efficacité du système pénal des Anglais, et spécialement de la transportation’ (1834) 1 Revue étrangère de législation et d’économie politique 7.38 Henri Lagarmitte, ‘De la peine de mort selon les criminalistes de l’Allemagne’ (1829) 2 Nouvelle Revue germanique 1. The piece cites Feuerbach, Grolman, Mittermaier and the German discussion on Charles Lucas’s book against the death penalty. On the Revue germanique, see Philippe Régnier, ‘Une germanistique pré-universitaire : les premières Revues germaniques 1826-1865’ in Michel Espagne and Michael Werner (eds), Histoire des Études Germaniques en France 1900-1970 (CNRS, 1994) 66, 71.39 Henri Lagarmitte, ‘Bulletin bibliographique’ (1830) 6 Revue germanique 190.40 Henri Lagarmitte, ‘Exposition des théories de droit criminel qui se sont produites en Allemagne depuis un demi-siècle’ (1831) 7 Revue germanique 1.41 Jacques-Frédéric Rauter, ‘Strafgesetzbuch-Entwurf. Mit einer Darstellung der Grundlagen des Entwurfs. Projet d’un Code pénal, avec un exposé des motifs du projet, par le docteur Charles-Salomon Zachariae, conseiller intime du Grand-Duc de Bade, professeur de droit à l’université de Heidelberg; à Heidelberg, 1826’ (1827) 3 Revue germanique 62. The article had a critical perspective on the Napoleonic Penal Code. Rauter also wrote an article on Feuerbach’s 1825 book on oral procedure in the preceding year. See Jacques-Frédéric Rauter, ‘Considérations sur la publicité des débats et de la procédure orale par le chevalier Anselm de Feuerbach’ (1826) 1 Bibliothèque allemande 89, 145.42 Jacques-Frédéric Rauter, ‘Théorie du Code pénal par MM. Chauveau et Hélie’ (1835) 2 Revue étrangère de législation et d’économie politique 167; Jacques-Frédéric Rauter, ‘Théorie du Code pénal par MM. Chauveau et Hélie’ (1837) 3 Revue étrangère de législation et d’économie politique 434. The first edition of Chauveau and Hélie’s Théorie du Code pénal was probably published in 1834, but the first available edition in libraries is the one from 1836. This was quickly followed by a (probably illegal) Belgian edition in 1837. On Jean-Jacques Gaspard Foelix (1791-1853), see Jean-Louis Halpérin, ‘Foelix’ in Patrick Arabeyre, Jean-Louis Halpérin and Jacques Krynen (eds), Dictionnaire Historique des Juristes Français XIIe-XXe siècle (PUF, 2015) 437–38.43 The chapter on attempt (tentative) was published as Adolphe Chauveau and Faustin Hélie, ‘De la tentative’ (1837) 3 Revue étrangère de législation et d’économie politique 130.44 Jacques-Frédéric Rauter, ‘Du principe du droit criminel’ (1837) 3 Revue étrangère et française de législation et d’économie politique 334.45 Eugène Lerminier, Introduction Générale à l’Histoire du Droit (Alexande Mesnier, 1829) 234, 257.46 Carl Joseph Anton Mittermaier, ‘Teoria delle leggi della sicurezza sociale par G. Carmignani’ (1834) 1 Revue étrangère et française de législation et d’économie politique 147. See also Carl Joseph Anton Mittermaier, ‘Examen des diverses opinions professes en Europe et en Amérique sur le système pénitentiaire’ (1837) 4 Revue étrangère et française de législation et d’économie politique 10.47 Jacques-Frédéric Rauter, ‘Théorie des lois de la sûreté sociale (Teoria delle leggi della sicurezza sociale) par M. J. Carmignani’ (1837) 4 Revue étrangère et française de législation et d’économie politique 38.48 Rauter referred to Carl Joseph Anton Mittermaier, ‘Über den Zustand der Criminalrechtswissenschaft in Italien’ (1833) 5 Kritische Zeitschrift für Rechtswissenschaft und Gesetzgebung des Auslandes 114. This article contained only one page (126) on Romagnosi’s theory.49 Leopold Auguste Warnkoenig, ‘De la science du droit en Allemagne depuis 1815’ (1841) 4 Archives de droit et de législation 170: 185–89. Warnkoenig was a professor at Freiburg at that time.50 Adolphe Chauveau and Faustin Hélie, Théorie du Code Pénal (3rd ed, Cosse 1852) vol 1, 15.51 Chauveau and Hélie (n 25) vol 1, 10.52 Chauveau and Hélie (n 25) vol 2, 17–8.53 Victor Molinier, Programme du Cours de Droit Criminel Fait à la Faculté de Droit de Toulouse (Imprimerie de Bonnal et Gibac 1851) 101.54 Mathieu Soula, ‘Spécialisation et professionnalisation du droit criminel: le cas exemplaire de Victor Molinier’ in Christophe Gaven and Frédéric Audren (eds), Les Facultés de Droit de Province au XIXe et XX Siècles: Les Conquêtes Universitaires (tome 3) (Presses de l’Université Toulouse-Capitole, 2012) 297.55 Victor Molinier, Traité Théorique et Pratique de Droit Pénal (Arthur Rousseau, 1893) 63.56 Charles-Alfred Bertauld, Cours de Code Pénal (Cosse et Marchal, 1864) 108 (note). Bertauld also cited Carmignani (albeit without referring to specific page numbers) on the issue of criminal attempt and Rauter’s theory. See ibid 182. One can hypothesise that Bertauld knew Carmignani’s point of view through Rauter.57 In the 1844 issue of this review, Mancini cited the French translation of an 1840 book on penalties by Prince Oscar of Sweden. See Marco Nicola Miletti, ‘“Mio primo amore ed esercizio”: Il Mancini penalista’ in Italo Birocchi (ed), Per una Rilettura di Mancini: Saggi sul Diritto del Risorgimento (Edizioni ETS, 2018) 381, 395.58 Terenzo Mamiani della Rovere and Pasquale Stanislao Mancini, Lettere (Giuseppe Jovene 1844) CXXII and Terenzo Mamiani della Rovere and Pasquale Stanislao Mancini, Lettere (4th ed, G Cassone 1853) 163. The first letters were also published in the Italian translation of Ahrens, which is a clue for Mancini’s knowledge of the principles of Krause’s philosophy. See Heinrich Ahrens, Corso di Diritto Naturale (Antonio Agrelli, 1841).59 Marco P Geri, Il Magistero di un Criminalista di Fòro: Giovanni Carmignani, « Avvocato Professore di Leggi » (Edizioni ETS, 2015) 135–36, 142.60 Giovanni Carmignani, Fragments d’un Discours sur la Peine de Mort Prononcé le 18 Mars 1836 (Jean-Jacques de Sellon tr, E Pelletier 1836).61 Mori (n 17).62 Cousin (n 9) 105.63 Eduard Gans, Chroniques Françaises (Norbert Waszek ed, Editions du Cerf, 1993) 144–49.64 Édouard Livingston, Rapport sur le Projet d’un Code Pénal (MAH Taillandier ed, Antoine-Augustin Renouard, 1825).65 Alexis de Tocqueville, Écrits sur le Pénitentiaire en France et à l’Étranger (Gallimard, 1984) 8, 17, 32.66 Nicolaus Heinrich Julius, Die Amerikanischen Besserungs-Systeme Erörtert in einem Sendschreiben an Herrn W. Crawford (Brockhaus, 1837).67 Charles Lucas, ‘Des moyens et des conditions de la réforme pénitentiaire en France’ (1840) 11 Revue de législation et de jurisprudence 161.68 Catalogue de la Bibliothèque de l’Administration Centrale du Ministère de la Justice (Weissenbruch, 1868) 370.69 Durkheim’s borrowing of books from public libraries has been described in Matthieu Béra, ‘La représentation disciplinaire du social dans les références et les lectures du jeune Durkheim (1879-1894)’ (2017) 67(2) L’Année sociologique 481; Jean-Louis Halpérin, ‘Durkheim et la culture juridique de son temps’ in Werner Gephart and Daniel Witte (eds), The Sacred and the Law: The Durkheimian Legacy (Vittorio Klostermann, 2017) 73. For Lombroso, it is likely that he obtained knowledge of the theories of Hommel, Feuerbach, Grolman, Holtzendorff and Ortolan through public libraries. All these scholars were cited in Lombroso (n 10) 360–63.70 Despite the presence of remarkable authors (and of four successive penal codes in Spain, in 1822, 1848, 1850 and 1870), Spain and Portugal were not strong exporters of ‘legal formants’ during the nineteenth century. On legal formants, see Rodolfo Sacco, ‘Legal Formants: A Dynamic Approach to Comparative Law’ (1991) 39(1) The American Journal of Comparative Law 1.71 Mori (n 17), vol 1, 1.72 We do not know the relationship between Nypels and Hélie.73 On the contact between the Portuguese specialist of criminal law Lévy Maria Jordão and Röder, see Miguel Lopez Romão, Prisão e Ciência Penitenciária em Portugal (Almedina, 2014) 274.74 Herman Isay, Die Isolierung des Deutschen Rechtsdenkens (Franz Vahlen, 1924).75 Georg Jellinek, Die Sozialethische Bedeutung von Recht, Unrecht und Strafe (Alfred Hölder, 1878), which was one of his first works (his first failed attempt to obtain the ‘habilitation’ at the University of Vienna) was known by some specialists of criminal law. His later texts on legal theory were also cited in, for example, Arturo Rocco, L’Oggetto del Reato et della Tutela Giuridica Penale (Fratelli Bocca, 1913).76 Saleilles, Durkheim and Makarewicz cited the following: Herman Post, Bausteine für eine Allgemeine Rechtswissenschaft auf Vergleichend-Ethnologischer Basis (Schulz, 1880); Alexander Löffler, Die Schuldformen des Strafrechts in Vergleichender-Historischer und Dogmatischer Darstellung (Hirschfeld, 1895).77 Juliusz Makarewicz, ‘Évolution de la peine’ (1898) 13 Archives d’anthropologie criminelle, de criminologie et de psychologie normale et pathologique 129; Juliuz Makarewicz, Einführung in die Philosophie des Strafrechts (Ferdinand Enke, 1906). Albert Berner’s Lehrbuch des Deutschen Strafrechts (Bernhard Tauchnitz, 1863) was translated into Polish, Russian, Serbian and Greek (Liszt’s Lehrbuch was also translated into Greek), but this example seems exceptional; many Polish and Russian academics could read German in the second half of the nineteenth century.78 Chauveau and Hélie (n 50) 15. The authors added a vague reference to Kant and used the erroneous title Métaphysique du Droit.79 The German references in Helie’s Traité de l’Instruction Criminelle could have been found from Arnold Carel Cosman, De Delictis extra Civitatem Fines Commissis (S de Grebber 1829); Jean Jacques Gaspard Foelix, Traité de Droit International Privé (Joubert, 1843) (concerning crimes committed abroad); Carl Joseph Anton Mittermaier, Traité de la Preuve en Matière Criminelle (Alexandre tr, De Cosse & N Delamotte 1848) (concerning the relationship between proof and truth).80 Pierre Bidart, ‘L’influence du philosophe allemand F. Krause dans la formation des sciences sociales en Espagne’ (2004) 21 Revue germanique internationale 133; José Manuel Vázquez Romero, Francisco Giner de los Ríos. Actualidad de un Pensador Krausista (Marcial Pons, 2009) 116–17.81 Raymond Saleilles, L’Individualisation de la Peine (Felix Alcan, 1898) 7–31; Raymond Saleilles, L’Individualisation de la Peine (2nd ed, Felix Alcan, 1909) 22. He cites (without the ‘h’ in the name) Émile Durkheim, ‘Deux lois de l’évolution pénale’ (1899-1900) 4 L’Année sociologique 65. Durkheim’s 1893 thesis was cited in Frédéric Lévy, Des Sentences Indéterminées (L Larose, 1896). This text was based on Lévy’s doctoral dissertation; Saleilles was one of the three members of the thesis’ jury.82 Enrico Pessina, Elementi di Diritto Penale (Riccardo Marghieri di Gius, 1882).83 Emanuele Carnevale, Una Terza Scuola di Diritto Penale (Mentelatte, 1891); Bernardino Alimena, Principii di Diritto Penale (L Pierro, 1910).84 Karl Binding, Die Normen und ihre Übertretung (W Engelmann, 1872); Lassa Oppenheim, Die Objekte des Verbrechens (Benno Schwabe, 1894); Arturo Rocco, ‘Il problema e il metodo della scienza del diritto penale’ (1910) 1 Rivista di diritto e di procedura penale 497.85 One can consider that the participation of jurists and non-jurists in this debate has created an epistemic field according to Bourdieu’s vocabulary. See Pierre Bourdieu, ‘The Force of Law: Toward a Sociology of the Juridical Field’ (1987) 38(5) Hastings Law Journal 805.86 Samuel Moyn, ‘On the nonglobalization of ideas’ in Samuel Moyn and Andrew Sartori (eds), Global Intellectual History (Columbia University Press, 2013) 187–204: 202.