Delgado, José alias Pepe Illo.

La Tauromaquia o arte de torear. Obra utílisima para los toreros de profesíon, para los aficionados y para toda clase de sujetos que gusten de toros. With 26 original aquatints and 1 original etching on the jacket by P. Picasso.

Barcelona, G. Gili for Ediciones de la Cometa, 1959. Oblong large folio (35.5 x 50 cm). 142 pages, [3] sheets (d.l.w.). Loose sheets and plates in illustrated jacket with original boards, original vellum portfolio with title on spine, slipcase (jacket somewhat lightened at the spine, slightly rubbed, hinges slightly cracking; portfolio faintly stained, cover minimally warped; slipcase slightly rubbed).

Bloch I, 950-976 - Cramer, Livres illustrés, 100 - Baer IV, 970-998 - The Artist & The Book, 244 - Geiser, 136-141 - not in Monod. - One of 220 numbered copies of "hilo Guarro" (GA 263). The imprint signed by the artist. - "This book was commissioned by Gustavo Gili, Senior, in 1927, for the collection of bibliophile books he published ... and then the wars in Spain and elsewhere put an end to the project. In 1956 Gustavo Gili, Junior, reminded Picasso of the book. In the spring of 1957, at Cannes, several days after the Easter corrida that the artist had attended at Arles, he started work again. Using a brush, he painted on the copperplates directly, creating a sort of 'stenogram' of light and shade, which is the modern equivalent of Goya's Tauromaquia of 1815. Picasso's 26 aquatints accompany the text written by the famous torero, Pepe Illo; his manual, which was published in 1796, was the first handbook for toreros and aficionados." (C.) - In 1980 a facsimile with reproductions of the illustrations was published. - The aquatints in strong impressions. Uncut and likewise a very fresh copy.