** On a short vacation. Orders will be shipped when I return April 1. **
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.
Pergamino (broadside). 5-1/2 by 9-1/4 inches. Edition size note stated.
A mimeographed announcement for an exhibition of ten works by a Cuban textile artist. The announcement, printed on Kraft paper with a handcolored illustration, consists mostly of a list of the names of the pieces.
OCLC: No holdings. Fine.
A pergamino in a paper folder. 6-1/4 by 7-1/4 inches laid into a paper folder that opens to 13 inches. One of 100 copies. Colección del San Juan. A single poem with a laid in illustration reproducing a drawing. Mimeographed on thin brown paper with mimeographed collage elements tipped on.....
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.....
A collection of poems translated from the Russian into Spanish by Juan Luis Hernández Milián especially for this edition. The text is mimeographed from typescript onto pink paper, with collage section dividers and illustrations after Modigliani. Designed by Alfredo Zaldívar. 31 pages. 6-3/4 by 8-1/2 inches. One of 200 copies.....
92 pages (printed primarily on the odd pages). 6-1/2 by 8-3/4 inches. One of 200 copies. Colección Venablos. A survey of the French influence on Matanzas, mimeographed from typescript on low-grade off-white paper, with illustrations printed on Kraft paper. Additional illustrations and elements on the cover are photocopied reproductions of.....
19 pages. 6 by 8 inches. An edition of 200 copies. Colección del San Juan. A collection of poems photocopied from computer typescript onto white paper. Illustrated with handcolored line drawings by Manuel Darío García. The stiff paper covers reproduce dense ink drawings with spots of handcoloring and a coating.....
16 pages. 5-1/4 by 7-1/4 inches. An edition of 200 copies. Colección del Estero. The winning entry for the Premio América Bobia for 2008. This chapbook, photocopied from laserprinted typescript, is enclosed in a handcolored three-panel folder, designed and illustrated by Robiert Luque. The design of this book has a grim.....
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.
19 pages. 7 by 9 inches. One of 100 copies. Colección del San Juan. Poems typeset on a computer with page borders with a theater curtain theme. The book is stapled into thin card wrappers with a paper dust jacket covered with black tissue paper and illustrated with paper collage.....
22, 18 pages. 6-1/2 by 9 inches. One of 200 copies. Colección Aforos. A pair of plays, bound dos-a-dos, both were winners of the Premio Virgilio Piñera de Dramaturgia (a playwriting prize). The text is mimeographed from a dense typescript on brown Kraft paper. Illustrated with mimeographs of line drawings.....
50 pages (even pages are blank). 5-7/8 by 7-7/8 inches. One of 200 copies. Colección del San Juan. Poems mimeographed from typescript and illustrated with reproductions of 19th century labels from a Matanzas pharmacy. The use of labels as illustrations is a good example of the press's intense local focus.....
[22 leaves, irregularly numbered]. 6-1/2 by 8-1/2 inches. One of 200 copies. Colección del San Juan. A collection of poems photocopied (or some similar process) on thin tan paper. Illustrated with small collaged spot drawings. Designed and illustrated by Alfred Zaldívar, one of the co-founders of the press. A simple.....
38, [5], [3 blank] pages. 7 by 11 inches. One of 200 copies. Colección del San Juan. A collection of poems mimeographed from typescript on brown paper. Illustrated on separate sheets of white paper, each with spots of color illustration. Covers collaged and handcolored. A thick green rope is looped.....
98 pages. 7-3/4 by 11-1/4 inches. One of 200 copies. Colección del San Juan. An anthology of Catalan and Cuban poetry, the former with Spanish translations and the latter with Catalan translations. The text is mimeographed from typescript, reproducing handwritten titles above each poem. The cover reproduces a photograph of.....
43 leaves, printed on one-side only. 8-1/4 by 12-1/2 inches. One of 200 copies. Colección del San Juan. A collection of youth poetry mimeographed from typescript. The author and title of each piece is mimeographed on a small piece of Kraft paper and mounted at the head of each poem.....
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.....
Pergamino (flyer). 6-3/4 by 11 inches. Edition size not stated. A mimeographed announcement for the publication party for Méndez's book and an accompanying exhibition of tapestries. Printed on brown paper with two spots of handcoloring. A very scarce piece of Ediciones Vigía ephemera. OCLC: No holdings recorded. Near fine. Folded.....
4 leaves. 5 by 8 inches. Edition of 100 copies. Colección del San Juan. A single poem mimeographed from a manuscript with calligraphy and two collage illustrations by Hiram Aguiar. The sheets are stapled into stiff paper wrappers, with a thin, translucent paper dust jacket, decorated with collage elements and.....
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.....
50 pages. 6 by 8-3/8 inches. An edition of 200 copies. A collection of Catalan recipes with Spanish translations on the facing page. This cookbook was published in cooperation with the Universidad de Lleida, in Catalunya, Spain. The book was designed and illustrated by Niusha H. M., who designed a......
12 pages. 5-1/2 by 7-1/2 inches. Edition size not noted. This is the catalog of an exhibition of Valdés's sculptures and three-dimensional pieces held at Ediciones Vigía. Valdés is a regular illustrator and designer for the press. The catalog includes photocopied photographs of the works, with accompanying description. Augustina Ponce.....
A horizontal pergamino (plegable), housed in a star-shaped paper folder. 9-1/2 by 60 inches unfolded. An edition of 200 copies. Colección Inicios. Song lyrics by a Cuban singer-songwriter, designed and illustrated by Rolando Estévez. The text and illustrations are printed on various types of paper mounted to the folded Kraft-paper.....
A pergamino (folded broadside) photocopied from a calligraphy manuscript by Rolando Estévez. 8 by 22 inches unfolded, in an 8 by 4-inch shaped folder. One of 200 copies. A Christmas poem issued in a paper container in the shape of the baby Jesus in swaddling clothes, which is decorated with.....
4 sheets, 8-inches square in a five-part folder that measures 8-1/2 by 8-1/2 inches when closed. One of 50 copies. Colección Clásicos. The four sheets include two prose poems from Tagore's Gitanjali, nos. 26 and 64, in Spanish translation; an about-the-author note; and a colophon. The text is photocopied on stiff.....
27 leaves. 7-1/2 by 8 inches. An edition of 200 copies. Colección del San Juan. A collection of poems, mimeographed from typescript on the front side of sheets of off-white paper. In the late 1980s, Vega Chapú published several chapbooks with Ediciones Vigía; in subsequent years, he has published many.....