'MAGIC REALISM'
CARPENTIER, Alejo.
El Reino de este mundo (relato).
Lima, Talleres Gráficos Torres Aguirres, [1959].
8vo, pp. 122 + 4 ll. advertisements; somewhat spotted; in the original printed wrappers, some discoloration.
Carpentier’s second novel, re-published on the occasion of the ‘1er Festival del Libro Cubano’ in 1959. First published in Mexico in 1949, the novel treats slave uprisings in 18th century Haiti. The original introduction (reprinted here) contains the first mention of the concept of ‘magic realism’, ‘lo real maravilloso’.
You may also be interested in...
MENDONÇA, Manoel Teixeira Cabral de.
O Guarda-livros moderno ou curso completo de instrucções elementares sobre as operações do commercio, tanto em mercadorias como em banco. Offerecido aos negociantes Portuguezes … Segunda Edição mais correcta, e augmentada pelo mesmo author. Tomo Primero.
Second addition, corrected and expanded, of vol. I, first editions of vol. II and the Supplemento. The first volume provides a broad overview of the history of commercial exchange, including present practices. Mendonça states that his intention is to demonstrate the benefits of studying geography, insurance, bills of exchange, foreign currency exchange, and other practical subjects for an aspiring merchant to youths desiring to pursue such a career. The second volume deals more specifically with bookkeeping, providing a detailed exposition on contemporary double-entry bookkeeping practice. He supports his explanation in volume II with numerous and extensive tables demonstrating his principles in practice. The supplement expands mainly on the topics covered in the first volume, discussing further areas of interest for the budding European merchant.
KUNDERA, Milan.
Žert.
First edition of Kundera’s first novel, The Joke, which gives a satirical account of the political atmosphere in Czechoslovakia in the 1950s. It tells the story of a young Communist whose life is ruined because of a harmless, joking reference to Trotsky in a postcard to his girlfriend. The Joke, together with all Kundera’s books, was banned after the Soviet invasion in 1968. A film adaptation by Jaromil Jireš with Kundera’s approval, also 1968, was similarly banned.