Between the Covers

Softcover. First edition. 12mo. 12pp. Text in Spanish. Stapled printed wrappers. Wrappers lightly soiled, small blank label laid down inside lower wrap, near fine. A speech given by Neruda, at that time the Chilean Ambassador to France and a recent Nobel laureate, at the P.E.N. Club of New York on the occasion of the organization's 50th anniversary. This pamphlet was published by the Chilean embassy in Uruguay, from a copy of the speech provided to them by the Central Bank of Chile. According to *The New York Times*, Neruda, who was introduced by Arthur Miller and received a standing ovation after his speech, spoke at the "generous and fraternal association" to pay the debt he felt Latin American writers owed to Americans such as Walt Whitman, Theodore Dreiser, and a more recent generation of "great and noble writers, faced with the conflicts involved in the vertiginous growth of your capitalist structure." The article was titled "Neruda Opens Visit Here With a Plea for Chile's Revolution."

The short introduction states in part: "La Embajada de Chile cree que las palabras de Neruda deben ser conocidas con la mayor amplitud. Conesa intención las difunde en este país hermano" ("The Chilean Embassy believes that Neruda's words should be known with the greatest amplitude. With that intention, it spreads them in this brother country"). Juan María Bordaberry was sworn in as president of Uruguay in 1972; the following year he would dissolve the Uruguayan General Assembly and rule as a military-sponsored dictator until 1976. Uncommon. *OCLC* locates only two copies, one in the United States (Nebraska).

Item #470263