A 320-page catalog of more than 300 handmade books from Ediciones Vigía, Cuadernos Papiro, and Ediciones El Fortín over the last 30 years.
Short videos of individual books are available on my YouTube Channel.
Ediciones Vigía
Of the three publishers, Ediciones Vigía is the oldest—established in 1985 by Alfredo Zaldívar and Rolando Estévez—and the best known inside and outside of Cuba. It has been the subject of exhibitions in many countries and even a monograph in the US, the recently released Handmade in Cuba.
Estévez, a set designer by profession, established the design aesthetic for Vigía. A large group of writers, artists, and artisans in the Vigía circle collaborate to publish hundreds of individually designed, and hand assembled books.
Typically, one artist creates a maquette for a book and then a group of artisans will figure out how to replicate the design 200 times. Most early Vigía books had print runs of 100 and later 200 copies, because that was as many as it was possible to produce before the mimeograph masters wore out, a tradition that continued after new printing technology was acquired.
While Ediciones Vigía has published many well-known writers from Europe and the Americas, it has retained its focus on the community of writers in and around Matanzas. Few publishers anywhere have produced so many literary books by regional writers and Vigía’s local emphasis is unparalleled among the makers of artist’s books.
In the post-Estévez era, several designers who once worked alongside him have begun to shape a new Vigía aesthetic, notably Elizabeth Valero Molina, Frank David Valdés, Adrián Milián Suárez, Marialva Ríos, and Johann E. Trujillo.
Ediciones El Fortín
Ediciones El Fortín is a spinoff of Vigía, founded by Estévez in 2014. This new Matanzas imprint claims to be based in “Bellamar”, which means “lovely sea.” Bellamar is intended to counter the violence implied by naming a city Matanzas, which might be translated as “Murderville.”. El Fortín produces books in small numbers, usually fewer than 50 copies, with elaborate structures and packaging. While Fortín books are much closer to Estévez’s one-of-a-kind book-art pieces than the typical Vigía title, they also make extensive use of Vigía-style handcoloring and paper and fabric collage.
Cuadernos Papiro
Cuadernos Papiro started as a papermaking collective in 1994 and began publishing books in 2001 under the direction of Tatiana Zúñiga Góngora and Manuel Arias Silveira. The press is in Holguín, on the opposite end of the island from Havana. Cuadernos Papiro (whose name translates as papyrus notebooks or papyrus quartos) makes all its own paper from recycled materials. Its founders obtained a linotype machine so they could print all their books with lead type. A dedication to obsolete equipment is central to Papiro’s vision. Most of Papiro’s books are illustrated with relief prints, most often linocuts and collagraphs.
[24] pages. 7 by 10-1/4 inches. An edition of 200 copies. Colección del Estero (per cover); Colección del San Juan (per colophon). Poems, illustrated by David Valdés Hernández with handcolored drawings and collages. The author's name on the cover is revealed by lifting a flap. OCLC: CLU DEIAI FQG IQU NOC NYP.....
29 pages. 6-3/4 by 8-3/4 inches. An edition of 200 copies. Colección Trébol.
A short story, winner of the Premio Virgilio Piñera for story, mimeographed from typescript on Kraft paper. Covers illustrated with paper collage designed by Rolando Estévez.
OCLC: BNCJM DEIAI EEM EYM FQG FXG IAC IND UMK. Fine.
9 leaves. 7-1/2 by 12-1/4 inches. Edition of 200 copies. Colección del San Juan. An attractive, archetypal Ediciones Vigía design from the Cuban Special Period. A single poem, winner of the Premio Anual de Poesía América Bobia. Mimeographed from a manuscript with calligraphy and illustrations by Hiram Aguiar. The sheets.....
173 pages. 7-1/2 by 9-3/4 inches. One of 200 copies. Colección del Estero. An anthology of three books of poems by a Havana poet, photocopied on white paper. Designed and illustrated by Marialva Ríos. Prologue by Roberto Manzano. The cover is assembled from pieces of corrugated paper mounted with collaged.....
32 pages. 8-1/2 by 11-1/2 inches. An edition of 200 copies. Colección del San Juan.
An anthology of French poetry in Spanish translation. Text and illustrations mimeographed on papel de estraza (paper made from sugarcane waste). Handcolored and collage illustrations by Yovani Bauta.
OCLC: DEIAI FQG UMK. Near fine.
181 pages plus [4] leaves. 8 by 10-1/2 inches. One of 200 signed copies. Colección Clásicos. Diego (1920–1994) was a Cuban poet in the Origenes group. This is one of his last books, a personal collection of classic poems in English, each reprinted with an introductory essay and Diego's Spanish.....
A single sheet, folded, trimmed, and decorated to echo a theater stage. 12-3/4 by 8 inches when open. One of 100 copies. Mimeographed from a handwritten master on pink paper (the same stock used for Ana Akhmatova's Misterios del oficio). The front employs tissue paper to mimic theater curtains; when opened.....
19 pages. 6-3/4 by 8 inches. Edition of 200 copies. Colección del San Juan. A collection of poems designed by Rocío Salema Hernández with illustrations by Sandra García Cabrera. The text is photocopied onto various kinds of paper, most with high recycled content. The cover design combines paper collage and.....
45 pages. 5-7/8 by 8-1/4 inches. One of 200 copies. Colección del San Juan. Poems printed on brown recycled paper. Designed by Enrique Ramos with line drawings by Carlos José García. OCLC: BLSTP BNCJM CRU CUI DEIAI EYM FQG FUG IND IQU STF UMK ZCU. Very good, with some scuffing.....
9 leaves. 6-1/2 by 12 inches. One of 200 copies. Colección del San Juan. This book, designed by Rolando Estévez, is a good example of a transitional work between the classic Ediciones Vigía style and the more elaborate works he has produced under the Ediciones El Fortín imprint. Domínguez's poems are reproduced.....
First Edition. 320 pages. 12 by 9 inches (oblong). Introduction by Scott Brown. A catalog of Cuban artist's books, individually priced, from the three most prominent makers of these books. One page is devoted to each of the 302 books, with a description and one to three color photographs. The catalog.....
11-1/4 by 18 inches.
A poster for the press, consisting of repeated images of lamps, palm trees, and addresses.
An uncommon piece of ephemera. Minor loss to one edge; with a few old folds.
9-1/4 by 5-3/4 inches (envelope). One of 200 copies. Colección Clásicos. Three poems, mimeographed from typescript on tan recycled paper, with a mimeographed cover sheet, in a printed envelope. The poems are folded twice and open to 8-3/4 by 10-1/2 inches; the cover sheet is 8-1/4 by 4-3/4 inches. The.....
8-1/4 by 9-1/2 inches. 99 pages. One of 200 copies. Colección Aforos. A play for puppets, which won the 2006 Premio de Dramaturgia para Jóvenes y Adultos. With a prologue by Rubén Darío Salazar and the design and illustrations by Zenén Calero Medina. The text is photocopied onto white paper.....
93 pages. 7-3/4 by 10-3/4 inches. Edition of 200 copies. Colección del Estero (cover) and Colección del San Juan (colophon). Poems, photocopied on white paper, with handcolored collaged section dividers. The cover is a collage made from cardboard, several types of cloth, overprinted text, and handcolored paper. Esquivel Guerra is.....
7 leaves, mimeographed on both sides. 8 by 6-1/2 inches (oblong). One of 200 copies. Colección Barquitos. A collection of short prose pieces written by Ediciones Vigía co-founder Rolando Estévez's daughter, then a sixth-grader. The book was designed and illustrated by Estévez, and he also provided the calligraphy used to.....
[11] pages. 7 by 10-1/2 inches, plus outcroppings on the cover. One of 50 copies. Colección Puente de la Plaza. A poem, inspired by the author's trip to Mexico, bound in cardboard with a handpainted portrait of the artist Frida Kahlo with added collage elements including cut-outs of painted flowers, a......
51 pages. 6-1/2 by 9 inches. One of 200 copies. Colección del San Juan.
Poems, mimeographed on low-quality brown paper. Illustrated with line drawings by the author. The cover is decorated with a collage of corrugated paper and mimeographed drawings.
OCLC: EEM FQG FXG IND IXA PUL. Fine.
4 pages (a single, folded sheet) in an envelope. 4 by 5-1/2 inches. The edition size is not stated, but it was perhaps as small as 10 copies. A chapbook with a single short poem, in English and Spanish translation, designed by the author. The poem, titled "The Angel and.....
Pergamino (folded broadside). 7 by 6-1/2 inches; unfolding to 23 inches. Edition size not noted. An announcement for an exhibition of drawings by Estévez held in March 1996 at the Centro de Arte Matanzas, Sala Polivalente. The pergamino has three sections, all mimeographed on Kraft paper. The upper portion includes.....
5 leaves and three pergaminos (two folded, one rolled). 7 by 9-3/4 inches; the folded broadsides unfurl to 72 inches; the scroll unrolls to 23 inches. One of 50 copies. Colección Puente de Hierro. A complex book-object designed by Estévez and Laura Ruiz Montes. It encloses a long poem for.....
4 leaves. 6-1/4 by 13 inches. One of 30 copies. Colección Puente de Hierro. A poem, in Spanish and English translation, designed and illustrated by the author. Each version of the text is printed on a torn remnant of recycled paper, folded accordion style and glued horizontally to one side.....
Pergamino. 8-1/4 by 12 inches. Edition size not stated. An announcement for a reading and art exhibit at the Casa del Escritor, which housed Ediciones Vigía. The announcement is made from two pieces of paper, a roughly torn brown sheet with an off-white sheet mounted to it. Designed by Ediciones.....
18 pages. 6-1/4 by 8-3/4 inches. An edition of 200 copies. Colección Barquitos. Poems for children by a two-time winner of the Casa de las Américas prize. Digitally printed on tan recycled paper. Designed and illustrated by Marialva Ríos with collages, many handcolored, including the covers. OCLC: DEIAI EEM FQG.....
67 pages. 8 by 11 inches. Edition of 200 copies. Colección Trébol. A collection of short stories photocopied onto brown recycled paper, with interleaved collage and handcolored illustrations by Sandra Naranjo. One of the illustrations is a cut-out in the shape of a squash that folds out to reveal additional.....