MICHAEL LAIRD Rare Books & Manuscripts
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MICHAEL LAIRD Rare Books & Manuscripts
_______________________________________________________________________________
P.O. Box 299 Lockhart, TX 78644 (512) 668-4621 laird.rarebooks@gmail.com
http://michael-laird.com
LATIN-AMERICAN LITERATURE: THIRTY BOOKS
Principally from Chile, Mexico, Peru
(None of which are listed in ORBIS)
Salvador Novo (see item 18)
1. Aleixandre,Vicente. Ámbito. Madrid: Colección Raíz, 1950. 108 pp. 8vo,
original cream printed wrappers. Second edition. Limited edition (#166 of
494 copies). Wrapper chipped with loss to upper part of spine, interior
solid. ¶ Insightful poetry by this Spanish Nobel laureate. $100
2. Arredondo, Inés. Opus 123. Mexico
City: Editorial Oasis, 1983. 26 pp.,
woodblock print. 8vo, original cream
printed wrappers. Wrapper with mild
sun damage and light chipping, else
very good. ¶ One of the few titles
published by this short story master
who has gained a growing audience
since her death. (The University of Nebraska Press issued her
Underground River in its series of Latin American women writers.) This
is number 23 of Los libros del fakir, a series of nicely produced
plaquettes in editions of 400 copies. $75
3. Arreola, Juan José. Gunther Stapenhorst: Viñetas de Isidoro Ocampo. Mexico
City: Costa Amic (Colección Lunes) 1946. 32 pp., illustrations. 8vo,
original cream printed wrappers. Light staining to wrappers, else fine.
Unopened. ¶ Arreola’s first separate publication, a small plaquette with
two short stories. Illustrations by Isidoro Ocampo. $75
4. Arteche, Miguel. El Sur Dormido
(1948-1949). Santiago: Ediciones de
Librería Neira, 1950. 85 pp. 8vo,
original cream printed stiff wrapper. Light soiling of wrappers, else near
fine. ¶ Early poetry title by this winner of Chilean National Prize for
Literature. $50
5. Castellanos, Rosario. Looking at the Mona Lisa. London:
Rivelin/Ecuatorial, 1981. 27pp. 8vo, original printed wrapper with flaps.
Fine. ¶ Her first selection of verse in English translation, ably done by
Maureen Ahern. Limited edition of 250 copies. $50
6. Dorfman, Ariel. Para Leer al Pato
Donald. Valparaíso: Ediciones
Universitarias de Valparaíso, n.d. [1971].
160 pp., illustrated. 8vo, original stiff
illustrated dustwrapper with flaps. Light
staining to upper wrapper, else near
fine. ¶ True first edition of this book, which was a sensation in English
as well as Spanish. Wonderfully garish wrapper illustration of Donald
Duck and his nephews, not using the Disney palette. $50
7. Echavarren, Roberto. Aura Amara. Mexico City: Cuadernos de la
Orquesta, 1988. 71 pp. Oblong 4to, printed wrappers. Inscribed in 1990 to
artist Don Bachardy, the partner of Christopher Isherwood. Bump to top
of spine, corners curling. ¶ Collection by the well-regarded Uruguayan
poet, a leading exponent of the neo-Baroque movement. $125
8. Eielson, Jorge Eduardo. Reinos.
[Lima]: Historia, Revista Peruana de
Cultura, 1945. [16] pp., illustration. 8vo,
original beige self-wrappers, string-tied.
Light discoloration to wrappers, some chipping, else very good. ¶ The
first publication by this major Peruvian poet and artist, who died in exile
in Milan, Italy. Very scarce. $75
9. Gil-Albert, Juan. Las
Ilusiones con los Poemas de El
Convaleciente. Buenos Aires:
Ediciones Imán, 1944. 147pp.
12mo., original grey cloth,
lacking dust jacket. Near fine.
¶ A collection of poetry by
this exiled Spanish poet. With
a full page inscription to a
person whose name has been
marked out with an ink
splotch. The inscription
reads: “xx, este es el
mundo/en que nací y en
cuya/herencia me recreo;
estas/son mis viejas
palabras./Conseguirán decirte lo/que sienten? Que ellas/hagan por lo menos con/stancia de fervor y
de/amistad./Juan Gil Albert/1945” $150
10. Guevara, Pablo. Los Habitantes. Lima: La Rama Florida, 1965. [52]
pp. Original printed wrappers. Wrappers with insect damage, now
laminated, else good. Limited edition (#210 of 300). Printed letterpress
by Javier Sologuren. $50
11. Kuan Veng, A. Mey Shut
[Poemas en Prosa]. Lima: Imp.
Lux, 1924. [120] pp.,
photographic plates,
illustrations. 8vo, original
wrappers with printed
illustration pasted on upper wrapper. Light soiling to wraps, minor
foxing to edges of text. Printing only on rectos. ¶ A fascinating book
of prose poems published in Lima by a Chinese immigrant who
apparently became fluent in Spanish. Kuan Veng wrote articles
published in Peru’s major daily, El Comercio, whose editor, Oscar
Miró Quesada, contributed the prologue. Included at the end are
excerpts of congratulatory letters written to Kuan Veng by famous Peruvian writers, including José Santos
Chocano. This self-serving gesture was typical at the time but here is particularly interesting because it
demonstrates that this Chinese immigrant managed to establish contact with some of the major Peruvian
literary figures of the day. With a photograph of the author in traditional Chinese dress and several pencil
illustrations throughout. The prose poems are generally brief and of Chinese theme. Two copies in OCLC
(Univ. of Washington and Universidad Ciudad Juárez). $400
12. Marín, Guadalupe. La Única. Mexico: Editorial Jalisco, 1938.
249 pp. 8vo, original illustrated wrappers. Foxing and bumps to
wrappers. Interior good with light foxing. Creases to spine from
reading, although pages are unopened in last third of book. ¶ A
novel (according to the title page, although everyone acknowledges
the autobiographical elements) by the second wife of Diego Rivera.
Critical reaction is mixed. In 1964 Edna Coll wrote: “This is the
story of a woman with an unbalanced mind who analyzes her crazy
life. This is an absurd and annoying book with pretensions of
erudition based on the paradoxical contradiction of having a
madwoman reasoning.” More recent critics have been more
perceptive. Salvador Oropesa writes: “La Única is an
autobiographical text in which, through the character of Marcela,
Lupe Marín tries to explain her version of the truth to the public.
In this novel she denounces what she perceives to be the most
important problems in Mexican society: homosexuality,
communism, machismo (including battered wives), state misogyny,
underdevelopment, lack of real division between political
powers…the arbitrary nature of justice, and the lack of citizenship for women.” With an incredible
illustration by Rivera himself used on the front wrap. Horacio Espinosa Altamirano describes it thus: “In
the picture two heads emerge from a hermaphroditic torso. The head on the left is that of an ambiguous
adolescent with a small nipple, resembling Jorge Cuesta. [Whom Marín married after parting with Rivera.]
The head on the right is Lupe Marín with big earrings and a huge nipple as a phallic symbol. The hands by
the waist hold a tray on which lies the head of the decapitated important poet of the Contemporáneos
group, recalling the story of Salome and St. John the Baptist. To give the picture more ferocity and
cauterization the letters of the title form a circulatory system or communicating vessels.” ¶ Our copy bears a
notable inscription on the first blank leaf: “A Pepe Russo, con la tristeza de la incomprensión y de los
errores. G Marín. febrero 13 de 1943.” The timing of this inscription is interesting: Marín’s subsequent
husband, Jorge Cuesta, had died just a year earlier from blood loss resulting from self-castration (sic). $600
13. Sold
14. Neruda, Pablo. Nuevo Canto de Amor a Stalingrado. Mexico City: Comité
de Ayuda a Rusia en Guerra, 1943. [16] pp. 8vo, original tan wrappers
printed in black and red, stapled. Discoloration to wrappers, else near
fine. ¶ A poem that Neruda wrote to celebrate the Soviet defense of
Stalingrad. It is titled “new” love song because he had already written one
poem on this topic, issued as a poster. The current version was issued as
an attractive chapbook with a cover vignette by Miguel Prieto. One of
5000 copies on papel Chemalín. $350
15. Neruda, Pablo. Peace for Twilights to Come. Bombay: People’s Publishing
House, 1950. 46 pp., illustrated. 8vo, original pink printed wrappers,
stapled. Very good in slightly soiled and creased pink wraps with some
separation of front wrap at top of spine. ¶ One of the scarcest Neruda
publications in English, an edition of “Let the Railsplitter Awake” issued
under a different title, which was taken from one of the last lines of the
poem. Neruda visited India in 1950 on an official mission of the World
Peace Congress to strengthen the peace movement there. This pamphlet
bears the notation: “Issued by the All-India Peace Committee, on the
occasion of Pablo Neruda’s visit to India in connection with the
forthcoming Second World Peace Congress in Sheffield, England, from
November 14th to 19th, 1950.” This peace conference had been planned
for London and was moved to Sheffield. It was moved once again, to
Warsaw, after England refused visas to numerous delegates, including
Neruda. He read “Que despierte el leñador” at the Warsaw conference
and was awarded a World Peace Prize. The blacklisting was lifted in 1965 in order for Neruda to enter the
country to accept an honorary doctorate from Oxford, the first honorary doctorate it conferred on any
Latin American. ¶ The book starts with an extended essay by Soviet writer Ilya Ehrenburg. Ehrenburg was
well-qualified to write the “pen portrait” - he met Neruda in Paris during the Spanish Civil War, translated
many of his poems into Russian (including España en el corazón), and remained a fast friend. After the 28-
page introduction comes the merely 17-page version of “Let the Railsplitter Awake,” translated by Waldeen.
$325
16. Neruda, Pablo. Oda a la typografía [sic]/Ode to Typography. Toronto:
Aliquando Press, 1977. 24 pp. Original orange printed wrappers, string-
tied. Very good. ¶ A bilingual version of this poem, which may be the
most widely-printed of any Neruda books given bookmakers’ affinity
for the subject matter of the poem. The one in question here is William
Reuter, a Canadian fine press printer. He printed 80 copies, half for
members of the Typocrafters. $125
17. Neruda, Pablo. A Call for the Destruction of Nixon and Praise for the Chilean
Revolution. Cambridge: West End Press, 1980. [80] pp. 8vo, soft cover,
perfect-bound. Bumping and wear to corners and edges, else very good. ¶
An “authorized” edition with translation by Teresa Anderson, with a
highly inaccurate account of Neruda’s death in the afterword. $50
18. Novo, Salvador. Seamen Rhymes. Buenos Aires: Colombo,
1934. Illustrated wraps with 14 pages laid in loosely (5 folded
sheets and 2 unfolded half size sheets with illustrations); tissue
guards present before the three illustrations. Housed in
protective clam-shell cloth case (Cloverleaf Studio). Colophon
calls for 100 numbered copies on various grades of papers.
Near fine in original glassine, very occasional light spotting,
mainly to the prelims and the edges of remaining pages. ¶ An
extraordinarily beautiful, rare, and significant plaquette by
Novo, one of the most important poets of 20th-century Mexico.
Novo wrote this poem on shipboard while en route to a
conference in Montevideo with the already formed purpose of
publishing it in a fine press limited edition - see his discussion in
Continente Vacío (Viaje a Sudamérica). The poem begins with a
description in Spanish of the sea in and then switches to
English for a section in the voice of a sailor. In The
Contemporáneos Group: Rewriting Mexico in the Thirties and Forties,
Salvador Oropesa ascribes great import to the disjuncture of
language, and specifically to the selection of English over French as the second language: “With this
estrangement Novo achieves two important goals. The first is to underline again the change in cultural
paradigm, from France as beacon of Western civilization to the United States, with all its
consequences...The second is to declare English a postcolonial language. English and Spanish are languages
rich enough to allow different nations and cultures to use them as their own.” Oropesa refers to the poem
as a “closeted text,” although it does not appear very closeted to me, starting with the title, whose pun is
definitely intentional. ¶ The book project took on much greater significance with the appearance on the
scene of Federico García Lorca. At the time of Novo’s arrival in Montevideo, Lorca has been in Buenos
Aires for some months for a very successful theatrical engagement. Novo quickly made a sidetrip to Buenos
Aires and the two met, establishing a very close relationship. Oropesa asserts they had an affair which
marked (at least) Novo for life. Novo certainly did write some familiar letters to Lorca (published by James
Valender in 1996), and the poem that he wrote upon his return to Mexico, Romance de Angelillo y de
Adela, has been widely interpreted as a coded version of their love story. ¶ While still in Buenos Aires, Novo
asked Lorca to contribute an illustration for Seamen Rhymes. The Spaniard obliged by providing not one
but four drawings, all involving sailors. Two are vignettes, appearing on the front wrap and the title page;
the other two are full-page illustrations. The cover illustration simply depicts a the head of a sailor, complete
with a hat and swirling lines around him. But things get more interesting with the interior illustrations. The
title page has a blank-eyed sailor with a hat on whose ribbons are printed the words “Amor” and “Love,”
perhaps playing off the bilingual nature of the poem. Also notable is the superimposed face that seems to be
kissing the first sailor. The next illustration depicts a sailor’s head with arrows radiating outward. The final
illustration is the best of all, and is the only one that bears the [reproduced] signature of Lorca. It has the
torso of a sailor emerging from a table, with a characteristic Lorquian crescent moon. The sailor has
downcast eyes and on the table appear the words “NOVO AMOR.” This can be alternately read as a play
on Novo’s important 1933 poetry title, Nuevo Amor, or a reference to Lorca’s feelings. ¶ Although Lorca
frequently made drawings and included illustrations in his own books, he only contributed drawings to three
books by others: this one and two by Ricardo Molinari. Molinari deserves special mention because he
facilitated the introduction of Novo and Lorca and also connected Novo with his own printer of choice,
Osvaldo Colombo. Colombo started as a job printer in the Argentine provinces but by 1934 had become
the major fine press printer of the country, based in Buenos Aires. His elegant sense of typographic design
and layout are in full display in Seamen Rhymes. $5,000
19. Pacheco, José Emilio. La Sangre de Medusa. Mexico City: Cuadernos del
Unicornio, 1958. [16] pp. 8vo, original beige wrappers printed in red. Wraps
and text clean, with creasing to lower edges of (yapped) wraps and ¼ inch
loss to top of spine. Very good. ¶ The first book by Pacheco, a major living
Mexican poet. Pacheco has always been an important presence on the
literary scene, but in recent years his public recognition has increased
dramatically, culminating in the Reina Sofía Prize in 2009. Although best
known as a poet, his first book consists of a single (very) short story. It was
issued in the same format as all Cuadernos del Unicornio: tall thin pamphlet
on lovely paper with colored wraps bearing a drawing of a unicorn head.
Number 18 in the series, one of 400 copies printed. $250
20. Sold.
21. Parra, Nicanor. Sinfonía de Cuna. Mexico City: CIDCLI, 1992. 27pp,
illustrations. Softbound. Near fine. ¶ An illustrated version of this
remarkable poem; notwithstanding the title ("lullaby"), this surrealistic poem
was not written with children in mind. $50
22. Sold
23. Piwonka, María Elvira. Selected Poems. New York: Osmar Press, 1967. 61
pp. 8vo, original white printed wrappers. Light soiling and edgewear, else
very good. $50
24. Sologuren, Javier. El Morador. [Lima]:
Historia, Revista Peruana de Cultura, 1944.
Separata from #8 of Historia, Revista de
Cultura. [16] pp. 8vo, original printed self-
wrappers, string-tied. Very good with
scattered foxing and edgewear. Only 4
copies located by OCLC. ¶ The first
separate publication by Javier Sologuren, whose fine poetry has been
overshadowed by his work as an editor and printer. Starting in the late 50s
he directed La Rama Florida, which issued very attractive small, hand-
printed poetry chapbooks, mostly by young Peruvians. $100
25. Sologuren, Javier. Estancias. Lima: El Timonel, 1961. [16] pp. 16mo,
original grey printed wrappers. Near fine with light soiling and sunning to
spine. ¶ A title by Sologuren issued under his own imprint. The title
originally appeared in 1960, but this 1961 issue is textually distinct because
the poems appear in both Spanish and English for the first time. One of
500 numbered copies, this one inscribed in the colophon to Peruvian
literary critic Julio Ortega. $100
26. Sold
27. Teillier, Jorge. Para Ángeles y Gorriones. Santiago: Imprenta de la Central
des Talle, n.d. [1956]. 55 pp. 8vo, original tan printed wrappers. Browning
to backstrip, tears to head and heel of spine, creasing and some tears to
yapped edges. Small ink number to front wrap, PO (Hernán Miranda
Toro) inkstamp to first blank, light foxing throughout. ¶ The extremely
scarce first book by Teillier, which has the hallmarks of being privately
printed: poor production, incomplete publication information, invented
imprint, etc. A subsequent Teillier title, Muertes y Maravillas, helpfully gives
the print run of all his titles to date, and indicates that only 400 copies
were printed of this one. Rare: one copy reported in OCLC (National
Library of Chile). $450
28. Teillier, Jorge. Invoco un Nombre:
Pablo. Lima: Artideia Editores, 1997.
One large sheet folded into three
panels, containing a poem written in
honor of Neruda shortly after his
death but not published until after
the end of the Chilean military
dictatorship (and even then,
published in another country). With
an introduction by Juan Cristóbal and
photo of Neruda.
We offer:
28A: Very good copy on blue
paper (outer corner creased). $35
28B. A near fine copy on
cream paper. $50
29. [Vargas Llosa, Mario]. Literatura 3 .Lima: Agosto 1959. 57 pp., ads.
8vo, original beige perfect bound printed wrappers. Foxing,
discoloration, and bumping to wrappers, else very good. ¶ The final
number of a literary magazine edited by Vargas Llosa. He contributes an
analysis of the poetry of Alejandro Romualdo titled “Es útil el sacrificio
de la poesia?” $75
30. Villaurrutia, Xavier. Nocturnos.
Mexico City: Fábula, 1933. 59 pp. 8vo,
original printed wrappers with glassine
as issued. Limited edition (#28 of 300
printed on Warren’s Olde Style Paper).
Very minor bumping to spine ends and
extremely minimal loss to glassine in
few spots along edges, else near fine. ¶ One of the major poets of 20th
Century Mexico; his work has been praised and studied by the likes of
Octavio Paz. This title is one of several collections of nocturnes by
Villaurrutia. It is also a distinguished physical production, being an early
effort of poet and master printer Miguel N. Lira, who printed this book
by hand using movable type. In the same year, Lira printed (in a run of
just 75 copies!) the first book by Octavio Paz. In addition to being a poet,
Villaurrutia was a playwright of note. He was awarded a Rockefeller to
study drama at Yale in 1935-1936. $450
Selected Index
Author’s First Book: 3, 8, 11-12, 19, 24, 27
Fine Press / Conceptual book: 18, 19, 30
Gay Authors / Content: 7-9, 12, 18, 30
Inscribed: 7, 9, 12, 25
Nobel Prize Winner: 1, 14-17, 29
Women Authors: 2, 5, 12, 23
Yale Connection: 30
Country Index
Chile: 4, 6, 14-17, 21, 23, 27, 28
Mexico: 2, 3, 5, 12, 18-19, 30
Peru: 8, 10, 11, 24, 25, 29
Spain: 1, 9
Uruguay: 7TERMS: Thank you for reading about our Terms: everything we sell is unconditionally guaranteed and may be returned within seven days of receipt for any reason, or even for NO reason (kindly notify us in advance). Prices are in U.S. Dollars. We accept major credit cards (check or wire transfer is preferred). Payment is due within thirty days of receipt. Institutions may receive differed billing if requested; please inquire. Welcome to our new customers: please remit with order or provide suitable trade references. All prices are net; shipping charges and applicable sales tax extra. Foreign accounts to be paid in U.S. Dollars, either by wire transfer by check drawn on a U.S. bank (charges may apply). Trade discounts are extended upon a strictly reciprocal basis.
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