Item No: #306034 Cartas amadas: Selección de textos de Gerardo, Ramón, Antonio, Fernando y René escritos desde prisión a sus familias (1998–2012) [Love Letters ... written from prison]. Gerardo Hernández, Antonio Guerrero, Ramón Labañino, Fernando González, René González.

A Self-Destructing Artist's Book

Cartas amadas: Selección de textos de Gerardo, Ramón, Antonio, Fernando y René escritos desde prisión a sus familias (1998–2012) [Love Letters ... written from prison]

Notes: 54 pages, printed on 27 unbound leaves of handmade paper embedded with flower petals. 8-1/2 by 13 inches. An edition of 250 copies.

The text is excerpts of letters sent from the "Cuban 5" to their families. The five men were convicted in Miami of being Cuban spies. They were eventually released, in part through an exchange for a couple of Americans accused of similar crimes in Cuba. The case of the Cuban 5 is little known in the United States, but it continues to loom large in Cuba. This publication coincides with the beginning of a concerted effort to bring the men home, which concluded successfully two years later.

The sheets are tied with a white strap and laid into a paper box that partially encloses the sheets and that ties with a cord at the top. A metal rose, handmade by Herbigio Fernández Pino, is inserted in a thin sleeve made for the stem on the bottom of the enclosure. The very fragile and unwieldy design is basically impossible to store. The box, made from soft handmade paper is larger than the sheets and tends to crush. The rose will also be smashed simply by placing the box on a surface, and since the other side of the box is left partially open, the sheets threaten to fall out if the box, rose on top, is lifted.

This Cuadernos Papiro piece, like many works by Ediciones Vigía and Rolando Estévez, deliberately challenges the idea of collecting and preserving books.

This is one of the largest editions of any Cuadernos Papiro title, made possible with the sponsorship of two Cuban government agencies.

OCLC: VWM

Edition + Condition: Very good, with some bending of the box sides. With a "certificado de autenticación" and a small card promoting the book.

Publication: Holguín, Cuba: Casa Editora Cuadernos Papiro, 2012.

Item No: #306034

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