| Editorial: | Editorial Signo, |
| Ciudad: | Madrid |
| Año: | 1932. |
| Edición: | 1st ed. |
| Medidas: | 14x21.5. |
| Paginación: | 469pp. 1h. |
Photos.
Boards, dust jacket.
Dedication from Diego to Manuel de la Escalera: "A Manolo Escalera, fiel escudero de Carmen, la Poesía Española, Carmen y Gerardo. Santander, marzo 1932"; on the front end paper, stamp of the prison 'Colonia Penitenciaria del Dueso - Escuela' and written in ink: "Autorizado, El Maestro Oficial José M. Llorente." Manuel de la Escalera (San Luis de Potosí 1895 - Santander 1994) collaborated with Diego as secretary to the poetry magazines Carmen and Lola and founded two cine clubs in Santander in the 1930s. During the Civil War he served in the Republican Army, was taken prisoner after the fall of Oviedo and spent 23 years in Franco's prisons. After his release in 1962 he published 'Muerte Después de Reyes' probably the best account of prison life under Franco describing life over Christmas while awaiting execution - he was given two death sentences.
Diego's anthology of the poetry of the Generación del 27 brought the work of his contemporaries enormous public attention, indeed, it can be said to define the group during their most creative period. The poets included are Miguel de Unamuno, Manuel and Antonio Machado, Juan Ramón Jiménez, José Moreno Villa, Pedro Salinas, Jorge Guillén, Dámaso Alonso, Gerardo Diego, Federico García Lorca, Rafael Alberti, Fernando Villalón, Emilio Prados, Luis Cernuda, Manuel Altolaguirre, Vicente Aleixandre and Juan Larrea. In 1934, a second edition was published with a wider selection of poets, but this first edition is considered the classic, defining work.