Primer Romancero Gitano. 1924-1927[Gypsy Ballads]
Federico Garcia Lorca
Madrid, 1928
 
First edition of one of the most important poetry books of the 20th century - Lorca’s melodic masterpiece. Original publisher’s wrappers, uncut. 
 
“…made up of 18 ballads about gypsy life, culture, and customs. The ballads reflect the pain of the gypsy people; who lived in the margins of society and were constantly persecuted by the authorities…Garcia Lorca [chose] the gypsies because he viewed them as the purest representatives of Andalusian culture.”(The Greatest Spanish Books)
 
A book that most often appears rebound and/or in various states of grubbiness. This one is little worn and bright - a rather remarkable survival for this small, delicate publication. Two vertical creases along the spine’s length, a couple of minor sporadic spots at the wrapper margins, else Fine. Esta es una copia increible.
 
Owner signature on title page noting the book’s purchase from the 1968 Frankfurt Book Fair. Housed in a custom full red leather case with gilt tooled and lettered spine.
 
‘Lorca was born in 1898 in Fuente Vaqueros, a few miles outside Granada in the region of Andalusia in southern Spain. From an early age he was fascinated by Spain’s mixed heritage, adapting its ancient folk songs, ballads, lullabies, and flamenco music into poems and plays…By the age of thirty, he had published five books of poetry, culminating in 1928 with Gypsy Ballads, which brought him widespread fame. In 1929-1930 he traveled to New York City, which inspired new poetic styles and a new focus on social justice. In 1936, at the outset of the Spanish Civil War, he was tragically shot to death by anti-Republican rebels in Franco’s army, and his books were banned and destroyed. Lorca then took on martyr status and his poems became rallying cries for justice and freedom of expression…”His one of a kind lyricism and unexpected uses of language lead us urgently and directly to the central mysteries of human existence.”’(Maurer)