What is the connection between Taller de Picasso and the Herzog August Library? What is the relationship between the Catalan writer Manuel de Pedrolo (1918-1990) and the English Hispanist Alan Soons (1925-2011), with the also known as Augusta Library? The answer we have in one of the copies of the collection ‘Poemes i Dibuixos’ edited by Jordi Costa’s gallery in Barcelona in 1983.
The book, which was published only 250 copies, contains a manuscript and the poem ‘Simplement sobre la terra’ by Manuel de Pedrolo, illustrated by an original drawing and 27 reproductions hand signed by the artist Maria Montserrat Barenys, one of the painters from the background of the Col·lecció Jordi Costa del Taller de Picasso de Barcelona.
‘Poemes i Dibuixos’ – Manuel de Pedrolo – Maria Montserrat Barenys (1983).
One of these 250 copies of this volume of ‘Poemes i Dibuixos’ fell into the hands of the English Hispanist Alan Soons. In addition, it is known that this book includes a handwriting dedication of Barenys addressed to Soons. This volume, number 7 in the collection, is part of the Herzog August Library background – the Augusta Library.
The Big House of Books
The Herzog August Library is located in Wolfenbüttel, Lower Saxony (Germany). It is a cultural institution of international importance for its collection of books from the Middle Ages and Modern Europe.
The library is famous for its research work. It attracts hundreds of international researchers.
‘Poemes i Dibuixos’ – Manuel de Pedrolo – Maria Montserrat Barenys (1983).
The Herzog August Library has about 11,500 manuscripts and 900,000 books, 350,000 of which were printed between the fifteenth and eighteenth centuries. A total of 3,500 are incunable, 75,000 are from the 16th century, 150,000 are from the 17th century and 120,000 are from the 18th century.
Rare books
This book of ‘Poemes i Dibuixos’ by Manuel de Pedrolo and Maria Montserrat Barenys, edited by Taller de Picasso, is part of the Augusta Library background thanks to the British professor Alan Soons and his particular interest in collecting “rare books” (that is, very select books).
Born to Grantham (England), Alan Soons wrote books and numerous articles about the literature of the Spanish Golden Age. After serving Royal Navy to World War II, he studied in Sheffield, Nottingham, Zaragoza and Harvard Universities.
Alan Soons.
Alan Soons was a member of several universities, such as Buffalo, where he was a full professor from 1972 until his retirement. He spent the last years of his life carefully dividing his extensive collection of rare books into several libraries such as the Herzogin Anna Amalia Bibliothek of Weimar, the Herzog August Bibliothek of Wolfenbüttel and The Renaissance Center of Amherst, Massachusetts, where he died at home.
