This monograph is a facsimile edition of the first book devoted to the great Mexican illustrator and engraver José Guadalupe Posada (1852-1913), published in 1930.
This volume reproduces some 400 engravings from Posada’s vast output collected by Paul O’Higgins, which could be located and assembled at the time. The images of the artist’s cheerful and sometimes macabre flyleaves are part of the thousands that make up his oeuvre, including calaveras, corridos or illustrations of songs and religious prayers, which, with their great plastic quality, enhanced the tradition of popular Mexican engraving.
In addition to the images, the book includes an introduction by Frances Toor, legendary editor of the magazine Mexican Folkways, and an essay by Diego Rivera on the engraver. According to Diego Rivera, the importance of this publication was not to let Posada fall into oblivion. It is thus a cornerstone of this monument, because it is the first permanent document of José Guadalupe Posada’s work. His illustrations, although appreciated and still in use at the time, circulated without his name and lacked a deserved recognition.
