Antique flamenco books
are recovered in a facsimile edition
‘Escenas andaluzas’ by Estébanez
Calderón, a feature on La Niña de los Peines
and ‘Colección de cantes flamencos’
by Demófilo, among the titles
Flamenco-world.com, May 2008
Book selection
Just like it was published over
a century and a half ago. That’s how ‘Escenas
andaluzas’ comes out again by Málaga-born
literature of manners writer Estébanez Calderón,
one of the romantic chronicles which most clearly portrays
the early days of flamenco. And the same thing occurs
with other antique books such as ‘Colección
de cantes flamencos’ by Demófilo, ‘Escenas
y andanzas de la campaña antiflamenca’ by
Eugenio Noel and another two dozen books which, thanks
to Sevillian publisher Extramuros, are once again available
to enthusiasts in a facsimile edition.
| |
'Figuras del cante jondo.
La Niña de los Peines. Los Cuyanos' |
The collection ‘Flamenco y folclore
andaluz’ kicks off with over twenty books, recovered
from “libraries, institutions and private collections,
titles hard to get or out of print”. Standing out
among them is the original two-volume edition from 1841
in English of ‘The zincali or, an account of the
gypsies of Spain’ by traveler George Borrow; ‘Escenas
andaluzas’ by Estébanez Calderón,
a book from 1847; and two editions of ‘Colección
de cantes flamencos’ by Demófilo, one from
1881 and the other from 1887. But the oldest one is ‘Crotalogía
o ciencia de las castañuelas’ from 1792.
Then from the start of the past century,
books by Eugenio Noel come back into circulation like
‘Escenas y andanzas de la campaña antiflamenca’,
‘República y flamenquismo’ and ‘Martín
el de la Paula en Alcalá de los panaderos’.
And among other books, there is also a curious handful
of features with cantes and biographical notes of cantaores
such as La
Niña de los Peines, Pepe Pinto, Pepe
Marchena and Canalejas.
As publisher Extramuros explains, “the
contents in facsimile remain faithful to the original
edition, taking pains over the typography, typesetting,
illustrations and harmony of its pages, respecting the
characteristics of the original book to the max”.
And this method of work matches the generalized interest
in recovering and feeding the flamenco bibliography on
the part of publishers such as Signatura, Almuzara, Tartessos
and Giralda.
