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.
12 pages. 6-1/4 by 11-3/4 inches in a handmade paper bag with cloth handles, 10 by 13-1/2 inches. One of 50 copies. Colección Puente de Hierro. A poem in Spanish and English translation, winner of the Premio Digdora Alonso. The text is digitally printed on white paper. Design and calligraphy.....
A single sheet, folded to make four pages. 6-3/4 by 7-1/2 inches. A keepsake ("recuerdo") produced by Rolando Estévez to commemorate the admission of Oliver into the Academia Cubana de la Lengua. The keepsake reproduces a poem by Oliver and is illustrated with handcolored collaged drawings. With a bellyband. Ediciones.....
Pergamino. Folder measures 5 by 7-3/4 inches. A Christmas greeting in the form of a card designed and illustrated by Rolando Estévez. The cover shows Mary (the mother of Jesus) knitting with a piece of yarn affixed to the cover. The inside front cover depicts the baby Jesus surrounded by.....
4 pages. 6-1/2 by 8-1/2 inches. Edition size not stated. A short essay on a landscape painting by Tarasco published as an information pamphlet when the work was a featured object at the Museo Municipal in Matanzas. A small black-and-white reproduction of the painting is mounted on the front cover.....
[12] pages. 6 by 8-1/2 inches. An edition of 100 copies. Colección Barquitos. A play for children by a noted Matanzas playwright. A very simple book, bound in papel de estraza (paper made from sugarcane waste) and published during the Special Period, the economic depression that wracked Cuba following the.....
59 pages. 7-1/4 inches in diameter, plus a leaf outcrop. An edition of 200 copies. This issue of the Ed. Vigía magazine for children has a shaped cover in the form of an orange (about 7-1/2 inches in diameter). The text is poems photocopied onto various types of paper, mostly.....
107 pages on 56 leaves, most printed on one side only, equivalent to about 64 pages of text. 7 by 8-1/2 inches. An edition of 200 copies. Colección Venablos. A book on the Italian influence in Matanzas, designed and illustrated by Rolando Estévez, who took inspiration from the Teatro Sauto.....
23 pages. 8 by 10-1/2 inches. An edition of 200 copies. Published in collaboration with Teatro Papalote. A mimeographed play for children, illustrated by the set designer Zenén Calero Medina. The illustrations are handcolored and the book is bound in stapled wrappers with a handcolored collage dust jacket. This book.....
59 pages. 10-1/4 by 5-3/4 inches, plus outcrops. An edition of 200 copies. Colección del Venablos. An historical essay on José Martí's Manifiesto de Montecristi: El Partido Revolucionario Cubano a Cuba and his pro-independence activism in the United States at the end of the 19th century. The text is presented in.....
10 pages. 6-1/2 by 7-1/2 inches. One 200 copies. Colección del Estero. Poems, photocopied on white paper. The binding is stiff paper covered with cloth and decorated with handcolored drawings, cardboard, and lace. Illustrated by Diana Balboa; designed by Elizabeth Valero. Bobes is a Cuban writer and the winner of.....
39 [3] pages. 5-3/4 by 8 inches. An edition of 200 copies. Colección del Estero. Poems in English and Spanish translation collected from She Becomes Time. This is the poems' first appearance in Spanish. The covers are cloth over stiff paper, with mounted paper and wicker elements. The text is.....
33 leaves. 12-1/2 by 13-3/4 inches. An edition of 100 copies, issued with at least two cover designs and typefaces. Poems, printed letterpress with the text set on a linotype. Bound Japanese-style. The paper is handmade from various plant and fiber sources. Six of the leaves have minimalist serigraphs made.....
27 pages. 6-3/4 by 9-1/2 inches. One of 200 copies. Colección del Estero. Poems designed by Mayra Alpízar and Enrique Ramos, with illustrations reproducing lace designs by Mayra Alpizar. Winner of the 2000 Premio América Bobia. OCLC: BNCJM CRU CSL CUI CUZ DEIAI DLC DRB EEM EYM FQG FUG IQU.....
55 pages. 7-1/2 by 11 inches. An edition of 200 copies signed by the author. Colección Venablos. Poems, mimeographed from typescript on estraza (sugarcane waste) paper. With design and illustrations by Rolando Estévez. Most illustrations printed on estraza paper mounted on lighter-colored paper stock. Fernández Retamar is an important Cuban.....
35 pages. 7-1/4 by 9-1/2 inches. Edition of 200 copies. Colección del San Juan. Poems, mimeographed from typescript on off-white paper from the design and illustrations of Hiram Aguiar. While many Ediciones Vigía books have uniform borders around the text, this book has unique vignettes on each page. OCLC: DEIAI.....
93 pages. 10 by 12-1/2 inches. An edition of 200. The first issue of the literary journal of Ediciones Vigía, which opens with the manifesto for the press. The Revista, which continues to this day, offers typical content for a literary magazine—principally poetry and prose from a variety of writers.....
A folded broadside in an eight-panel folded paper enclosure. Unfolded, 5 by 21 inches. An edition of 200 copies. Colección del San Juan. An edition of this poem done in memory of the late poet. The design, illustrations, and calligraphy are by Rolando Estévez. The book incorporates paper collage, lace.....
11 leaves, printed on one side only (rectos). 6-1/4 by 8 inches. An edition of 100 copies. Colección Clásicos. A small selection of Baudelaire's poetry in French and Spanish translation, mimeographed from typescript. This is the first in a series of several books of poetry in translation published in 1989.....
Pergamino (folding broadside) with a cord for hanging. 11 by 41 inches, unfolded. One of 200 copies, signed by the author. Colección del San Juan (?). A poem inspired by the Beatles song of the same name mimeographed from typescript on several attached sheets. Marimón a poet from Matanzas and.....
21 pages. 5-3/4 by 11-3/4 inches. One of 200 copies. Colección del San Juan. The program and text of a dramatic performance of this Loynaz poem by Sahily Moreda. Rolando Estévez designed the sets. The text is mimeographed; the design and illustrations are by Estévez. Loynaz (1902–1997) was a poet.....
97 pages. 11-3/4 by 6-1/2 inches. An edition of 200 copies. Colección del Estero. A collection of poems by the Cuban-American poet and anthropologist and one of the great books designed and illustrated by Rolando Estévez. Mounted to the cover of the book is a cardboard suitcase that opens to.....
[44] pages. 6 by 14 inches, plus outcroppings. One of 35 copies. Colección Puente de Hierro. A collection of song lyrics in Spanish, with English and French translations. Design and illustrations by Rolando Estévez, included many collage elements and a large fold-out illustration at the back. The binding is one of.....
[28] pages. 7-1/2 by 11-1/4 inches. One of 20 copies. Colección Puente de Hierro. A collection of poems by Acosta (1886–1979), a leading Cuban modernist poet and, as a native of Matanzas, a favorite of Ediciones Vigía and El Fortín. The text is photocopied on white paper with collage additions.....
10-1/2 by 8 inches, plus an 8-inch wide scroll that unfurls to 58 inches. An edition of 35 copies. Colección Puente de Bacunayagua The book-like portion of this production consists of two leaves connected with a strip of cloth. The inside covers include the colophon and an about-the-author section digitally reproduced.....
32 pages. 8-1/2 by 11-1/2 inches. One of 35 copies. Colección Puente de Hierro. Published as the winning entry of the tenth Premio Nacional de Poesía Digdora Alonso, a Cuban literary prize sponsored by Rolando Estévez. The text is photocopied onto white paper, with collage illustrations. An about-the-press page is.....