Very rare and important 1945 El Libra de Versos of José Asuncion Silva (November 27, 1865- May 23,1896) who was a Colombian poet. Sketches and Direction of Santiago Martinez Delgado. The binder was assembled by the alumni and faculty of the Universidad Javeriana in 1946 for Professor Luis Ghisletti. It contains facsimile pages of poetry and notes by Silva and was published December 15, 1945 in the workshops of Tipografia Prag., Bogota. Measures 10"x15"x1 1/2". Weight 3 pds. Silva is considered one of the founders of Spanish–American Modernism. Born to a wealthy and educated Bogota family, Asuncion Silva led a comfortable life. When he was just ten years old, he wrote his first poems. In 1882 he traveled through England, Switzerland and France, and in Paris met with other contemporary poets and artists, including Stéphane Mallarmé and Gustave Moreau. His trip to Europe would influence his style, as he incorporated many French themes. However, with the death of his father and the mounting financial difficulties of his family, Asunción Silva found himself obligated to return to Colombia. Incapable of paying his family's enormous debts, Silva accepted a diplomatic post in Caracas. Once there, he was encouraged by his fellow writers to dedicate himself to his poetry. In 1892, his beloved sister Elvira died. In 1895, many of Silva's works, including his principal work of prose, were lost in a shipwreck. He was, however, persuaded to recreate one of the novels from memory, but the losses of his sister and the novel took their toll nonetheless. It is said that Silva committed suicide after a dinner party on the evening of May 23, 1896. On the morning of 24 May 1896, a housemaid found Asunción Silva dead in his bed with a gun near his body; he had shot himself in the heart the night before. There are many reasons for his suicide, including the death of his sister Elvira, the loss of almost all his work when his ship sank near a quay in the Caribbean sea, and his debts. Prior to his death, he asked his doctor confidentially to mark the exact location of his heart. He was buried in the Central Cemetery in Bogota. Perhaps his more important legacy is the house where he lived, which has been converted into a museum, the Silva Poetry House.

good- very minor wear