Manuel Altolaguirre

MANUEL ALTOLAGUIRRE (Málaga, 1905-Burgos, 1959).
"One day", 1st Edition, 1931.
Publisher: Paris, Ediciones de Poesía.
Preserves cardboard box.
Measurements: 20,5 x 14,5 cm.
Published in 1931 by Ediciones de Poesía in Paris, Un día is one of the most representative pieces of the publishing and literary universe created by Manuel Altolaguirre, an essential figure of the Generation of '27 and one of the most remarkable printers of 20th century Spanish literature. Beyond its value as a work of poetry, this issue is part of one of the most singular publishing adventures of the period: the magazine and collection Poesía, a project conceived, printed and directed entirely by Altolaguirre himself.
After the experience of Litoral, a fundamental magazine of the Spanish avant-garde founded with Emilio Prados, Altolaguirre undertook a deeply personal initiative in which he brought together his two great vocations: poetry and the art of printing. Under the title Poesía, he published five issues between 1930 and 1931. The first three were printed by hand in Malaga, while the last two saw the light of day in Paris, the city where the poet lived during those years. Each issue was practically handmade, reflecting a conception of the book as an artistic object and a direct expression of the sensibility of its creator.
Altolaguirre himself described this experience in words that sum up the spirit of the publication: "I do everything myself. That is to say, I am the typesetter, printer and binder of Poesía, which, therefore, is not the work of the sad weariness of the workers, but of my enthusiastic joy". This statement highlights the exceptional character of a publishing enterprise where every material detail was linked to the poet's aesthetic vision.
The collection counted on the collaboration of some of the most outstanding names in Spanish literature of his time, among them Rafael Alberti, Pedro Salinas and Manuel Machado, as well as other writers linked to the renewing currents of Hispanic poetry. The publication thus became a privileged space for the dissemination of the new literary sensibilities of the 1920s and 1930s.
The reviewed copy gathers the five complete issues of Poesía (1930-1931), preserved in its original paperback edition. It is presented protected in an elegant cardboard box with gold lettering on a red background, designed to guarantee its preservation and enhance its bibliographic value. The handcrafted nature of the printing, its limited circulation and the inherent fragility of this type of publication make the complete collection a rarity of extraordinary importance in Altolaguirre's bibliography and in the publishing history of the Generation of '27.
Due to its exceptional scarcity, its condition as an original manual edition and its relevance in the development of contemporary Spanish poetry, this set constitutes a first-rate piece for collectors, institutions and scholars of Hispanic literature. It is a very rare copy, a direct testimony of Manuel Altolaguirre's passion for poetry, typography and the book as a work of art.