Rare Book Monthly
Book Catalogue Reviews - May - 2006 Issue
New Acquisitions from Argentine Bookseller Libreria de Antano
The 1947 issue of Time Magazine featured Eva Peron on the cover.
Since we noted that not all works in this catalogue pertain to Latin America, here is an example of one. George Augustus Frederick Fitzclarence undertook a journey almost as long as his name in 1817-18. He recounts that trip in Journal of a route across India, through Egypt, to England... Fitzclarence journeyed up the Nile and explored the Egyptian pyramids, but he did not set foot in Latin America. Nevertheless, this first edition provides a look at a long ago journey into territory not well known to the outside world. Item 61. $2,500.
Most Americans probably think of her as the subject of a wildly popular musical play, but Eva Peron was a real human figure in Argentina in 1947. In a nation and continent searching for someone who cared about the masses of poor people, rather than just the privileged few at the top, she was, perhaps, their best hope. Evita was a woman of ordinary background who became an actress, and in 1945, married soon to be President Juan Peron. She was a loyal backer of her husband, whose checkered career is too much to consider in a catalogue review, but Evita, like he, ended up with both an army of fanatic supporters and vehement detractors. Today, whatever she was, Evita is certainly a symbol, particularly to the poor. Eva Peron contracted cancer, and at the age of 33, died in 1952. Her husband was overthrown a few years later, though he would return to the presidency for a brief term in the 1970s before dying in office. Item 30 is a copy of Time Magazine, the Latin American Edition, dated July 14, 1947, with Eva Peron's photo on the cover. Only a year into her brief, six-year career as first lady, she was already a legend. $480.
Libreria de Antano may be reached by email at books@millic.com.ar or by phone at (5411) 4822-7178.
