José G. Posada Chapbooks and Chapbook Covers Collection: Finding Aid priPosada
Mari Khasmanyan
The Huntington Library
December 2023
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Business Number: (626) 405-2191
reference@huntington.org
Contributing Institution:
The Huntington Library
Title: José G. Posada chapbooks and chapbook covers collection
Identifier/Call Number: priPosada
Physical Description:
0.83 Linear Feet
(1 folder)
Date (inclusive): approximately 1890s-1910s
Abstract: A collection of four chapbooks and
seventeen chapbook covers dating from approximately the 1890s to the 1910s with artwork
illustrated by Mexican lithographer José Guadalupe Posada (1852-1913). The materials were
all printed for various publications produced by Mexican editor Antonio Vanegas
Arroyo.
Language of Material: Materials are in
Spanish.
Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at
the Huntington Library for more information.
The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from
or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The
responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining
necessary permissions rests with the researcher.
[Identification of item]. José G. Posada chapbooks and chapbook covers collection, The
Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Purchased from Stellar Books & Ephemera, October 2023.
José Guadalupe Posada (1852-1913) born in Aguascalientes, Mexico, was a Mexican
lithographer and engraver. In 1870, Posada joined printer José Trinidad Pedroza's studio and
worked with him in Aguascalientes and León until 1888 when Posada relocated to Mexico
City.
In Mexico City, Posada worked as an illustrator for Antonio Vanegas Arroyo and other
publishers to produce broadsides, relief prints, engravings, and lithographs. His prints and
engravings were primarily in black-and-white and were published in children's stories,
songbooks, playbooks, advertisements, and other mediums.
Posada is also noted for his satirical criticism of Mexican politics which he portrayed
through images of the calavera (skeleton), and his iconography remains associated with Día
de Muertos (Day of the Dead) celebrations today.
A collection of four chapbooks and seventeen chapbook covers dating from approximately the
1890s to the 1910s with artwork illustrated by Mexican lithographer José Guadalupe Posada
(1852-1913). The materials were all printed for various publications produced by Mexican
editor Antonio Vanegas Arroyo (1852-1917).
Three of the four chapbooks are part of the same series and are titled: Galería Infantil
del Teatro Los Novios; Galería Infantil del Teatro la Almoneda del Diablo; Galería del
Teatro Infa[n]til Colección De Comedias para Niños ó Títeres Los Gendarmes. The three
chapbooks in this series are printed in black ink on buff paper and include illustrated
covers. The fourth chapbook is from the "Nueva Colección de Cuentos Patrioticos" series and
is titled "La Gorra del Cuartel." The booklet includes hand-colored details of printed
images throughout the interior pages.
The chapbook covers in the collection are printed either in black ink or black-and-red ink
on various colored papers. Images include satirical and traditional representations of
Mexican plays, historical retellings, and comedic stories.
Processed by Mari Khasmanyan in December 2023.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Chapbooks, Mexican
Children's literature, Mexican
Lithographs
Mexico -- History
Printing -- Mexico -- History
Posada, José Guadalupe (Posada Aguilar), 1852-1913
Vanegas Arroyo, Antonio, 1852-1917
Box Prints and ephemera file 1, Folder 5
José G. Posada chapbooks and chapbook cover collection