Broadside: Panteon de Menudencias - Un Vestiglo. Periódico Dependiente del Pueblo, Tomo I, Núm. 8

Mexico: Blas Vanegas Arroyo, 1919. Broadside, printed in black on newsprint (measuring 40cm x 60cm), with text in six columns, large engraving at center, beneath five smaller ones. Faint horizontal fold smoothed out at center, a few tiny tears along margins, expected toning; Very Good or better. Well-preserved example of this large Calavera broadside attributed to Manuel Manilla (see Rothenstein, Posada: Messenger of Mortality, p.172) a Mexican illustrator and engraver who was a follower of Posada's. At center is a nightmarish image of the much-disliked president Victoriano Huerta, who came to power in a coup during the Mexican Revolution. The calavera depicts Huerta "metamorphosed into a giant spider, often spoken of as a cut by Posada. This violently anti-Huerta sheet could not have been published earlier than July 15, 1914, the date of Huerta's resignation. Soon after ascending to power the Carranza party publicized a search that proved successful for the hastily dug graves of Huerta's political rivals who had disappeared while he was president. A photograph circulated showing President Madero's shirt and coat, with bullet holes proving that he had been shot from the back. This could be a possible inspiration for the spider image" (Tyler, Ron. Posada's Mexico, p.46). OCLC notes 4 holdings (Notre Dame, UT San Antonio, Southern Methodist, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston); we note one other at Dartmouth.