Reportaje al Pie de la Horca (Notes from the Gallows)
[Mexico City]: Fondo de Cultura Popular A.C., 1952. First Mexican edition. Softcover. Octavo. 128pp. Illustrated white, black and red paper wrappers, with black and red lettering on the front cover and spine. Original cover designed for this edition by acclaimed Mexican artist Diego Rivera. Scarce first Mexican edition of the book commonly known in English as "Notes from the Gallows", published by the printing house of the Communist Party of Mexico.
The work is a memoir by Czech journalist Julius Fucik (1903-1943) detailing his imprisonment by the Nazis. Fucik, an ardent communist and anti-fascist, was arrested by the Gestapo in Prague in 1942. During his detention he was frequently interrogated and tortured. He was subsequently brought to Germany to stand trial on charges of treason, where the Nazi criminal court convicted him, and sentenced him to death by hanging in 1943. This memoir recounts the author's horrific experiences while detained in Prague's Pankrác Prison. The work was written down on scraps of cigarette paper and smuggled out by one of the prison guards. The work was heavily used in subsequent years as a valuable propaganda tool by communists.
Includes 5 interleaved plates throughout the text (including frontispeice portrait) containing b/w photographic reproductions of images of the author and pages of the original manuscript. Contains a tribute poem to the author by Chilean poet pablo Neruda. Text in Spanish.
Wrappers with foxing as well as light bumping and creasing along edges. Minor age toning to the edges of pages throughout. A few pages with light creasing. Book block tight. Wrappers in good, interior in near fine condition overall. Scarce. Wrappers protected in modern mylar. g to near fine. Item #48691
*This is the third known Spanish language edition of the work, following two extremely scarce editions published in Argentina, 1950-1951.
Price: $650.00