Case 3: : Central American Literature and the Arts

 

Contents

The texts below and images above right highlight the materials exhibited in Case 3 shown above.

 

 

Rubén Darío (Nicaragua, 1867-1916)
Azul
Valparaíso: Imprenta Excelsior, 1888

 

Cantos de vida y esperanza
Madrid: Tip. Revista de Archivos, Bibliotecas y Museos, 1905

Canto a la Argentina y otros poemas.
Madrid: Biblioteca Corona, 1914

 

Nicaraguan-born Rubén Darío (1867-1916) is a towering figure of Spanish-language letters. Included in the case are three first editions of his most notable works. Above, a rare, signed copy of Cantos de vida y esperanza (1905), dedicated to diplomat Luis Felipe Corea while serving on a Nicaraguan delegation at the 3^rd Panamerican Conference in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 1906.

 

The dedication reads: A mi querido Ministro/ y amigo/ my friend,/ Luis F. Corea/ En el mar/ y por siempre./ Rubén Darío.

 

 

Manuel de Adalid y Gamero Collection

 

Manuel de Adalid y Gamero (1872- 1947) was one of the most outstanding musical figures from Honduras. A man of many talents, he was also an organist, a conductor, a writer, an educator, and an engineer. Although living in the United States for most of his adult life, Adalid y Gamero incorporated themes and musical traditions from his native country into his waltzes, marches, polkas, and mazurkas. The photographs, manuscripts and scores housed at the Latin American Library is the most comprehensive collection of documentation on Adalid y Gamero, and includes signed, original scores of his best known works, Una Noche en Honduras, Suite Tropical, The Funeral of a Little Rabbit and Remembranzas Hondureñas.

 

Included are two original scores signed by Adalid y Gamero with lyrics. Subway Song is a playful composition evoking the possibilities of chance romantic encounters in modern urban settings and, as such, was likely a bit risqué for its time. Canto a Honduras a composition of nationalist pride composed for performance in Honduran schools.

 

 

 

 

Early Works by Miguel Ángel Asturias (1899-1974)

Miguel Ángel Asturias put Guatemala on the map of experimental literary and artistic movements of the twentieth century. A prolific writer of dozens of works, he earned the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1966. Asturias’ literary production blends political commentary, surrealism, and automatic writing with a deep interest in the indigenous cultures of Guatemala. The Latin American Library holds multiple editions of Asturia’s works, including his most well-known novels, El señor presidente (1946) and Hombres de maíz (1949). Displayed is a first edition of Leyendas de Guatemala, a collection of short stories inspired by Maya-Kʼicheʼ texts.

 

 

Central American Stamp Collection

 

Displayed are historical stamps from Costa Rica, one page from an album housing a comprehensive collection of stamps from 1860 to 1960 from the Central American republics, including some from the Panama Canal Zone.

Also included is a special card issued on the third anniversary of the Nicaraguan Revolution (1982), featuring four commemorative stamps honoring 1930s Nicaraguan revolutionary hero Augusto César Sandino and Carlos Fonseca Amador, founder of the Sandinista Front for National Liberation. Displayed as well are two uncancelled Nicaraguan stamps honoring Vladimir Lenin.

 

Gift of Forrest D. Colburn

 

 

Central American Zines

In 2021, The Latin American Library acquired an extensive Latin American Zine & Chapbook Collection encompassing 317 items of diverse formats, sizes, languages, and national origins. The items, all from Guatemala, incorporate printed and photocopied handwritten texts and images, mixing media, poetry, and prose. Some of the zines and chapbooks are self-published, while others were produced by small, independent presses. Among the themes central to these artisanal productions are love, feminism, queer sexualities, and nature.

 

Hugo Mujica, Kaqchikel translation by Negma Coy
Nalex ri’q’ij
San Juan Ostuncalco, Guatemala: POE Talleres, 2017

 

Tania Hernández
Devestir santos y otros tiempos
Ed. La Maleta Ilegal
Guatemala: Editorial Alas de Barrilete, 2017

 

Manuel Tzoc
El ebrio mar y yo
GuateMARa: Edición de autor, 2011

 

Manuel Tzco, Alina Kummerfeldt, Mishad Orlandini, Gin (Ginebra Raventos), marré, ishto juevez
Pastel do mozkaz
Guatemala: Ediciones Bizarras, 2014

 

Fabrizio Quemé
Perverso y disfórico
Guatemala: Ediciones La Maleta Ilegal, 2015