La Fiesta de Santa Fe. Sketches by the Author. Twenty-five Cents de Merchant, Madeline Gwynne - 1933

Santa Fe NM: Self-published by the author, 1933. Pamphlet. 24p., sewn pamphlet in 6.5x4.5 inch matte wraps, a good copy with a light crease to blank back cover and a general touch of dust. We note that the thread, expertly inserted and tied, looks newish, and think the item was issued staplebound, as faint stab-holes and minute dots of rust remain. Caveat emptor, Merchant's text is superior to her sketches. "The oldest historical celebration in the North American continent, except the Puritan Thanksgiving Day." Author Merchant notes that it celebrates the conquest of the locals by The Uninvited, but feels it has morphed into multicultural acceptance, indigenous participant with hispanic. Find some discussion of out-of-towner artists' presence in the town and in the fiesta; no artists are named except one Will Schuster, who inaugurated an annual "Burning of Old Man Gloom." Another artist- conceived production was the "Hysterical Pageant