Pablo Neruda

PABLO NERUDA (Chile, 1904 - 1973).
"Estravagario", 1st Edition, 1958.
Copy number 8. In addition to the current edition, 50 copies were printed out of commerce, numbered from 1 to 50, all signed by the author.
Publisher: Losada, Buenos Aires.
Preserves original covers.
Signed by the author.
Measurements: 25 x 17 cm.
Estravagario, published in 1958, occupies a singular place in Pablo Neruda's production. Considered one of his most personal and original books, it represents a departure from the epic grandiloquence of works such as Canto General to enter a more intimate, reflective and ironic territory. In its pages, the poet explores creative freedom, the passage of time, memory, human contradiction and the meaning of existence through a playful and surprising writing, where humor, melancholy and everyday philosophy coexist.
The present edition corresponds to one of the scarcest and most coveted issues of the work. In addition to the commercial edition, only fifty copies were printed out of commerce, numbered from 1 to 50 and signed by the author. This copy, number 8, belongs to that reduced special print run, a circumstance that gives it a remarkable bibliographic and collector's relevance.
Published by Editorial Losada, the edition also stands out for its careful graphic design. The art direction was in charge of Andrés Ramón Vázquez and Silvio Baldessari, who was also responsible for the composition of the cover and dust jacket. The illustration of the volume draws on a rich selection of images from old publications, among them the Libro de Objetos Ilustrado printed in San Luis Potosí (Mexico) in 1883 and various illustrated editions of Jules Verne's works. Also noteworthy is the inclusion of an image by José Guadalupe Posada to accompany the poem No tan alto. Matilde Urrutia and H. Arce Cabrera collaborated closely in the selection of these materials at the Isla Negra residence.
Because of its rarity, its condition as a signed and numbered copy, and the importance of the work within Neruda's poetic evolution, this first edition of Estravagario constitutes a piece of extraordinary interest for collectors, bibliophiles and scholars of 20th century Spanish-American literature.