The cavalcade of books of the Republic

On January 5, 1935, 90 years ago, a cavalcade of books toured the main streets of Madrid. It was organized by Rafael Giménez Siles, the restless editor of Cenit and creator of the Madrid Book Fair. One of the bookstore trucks of the Group of Spanish Publishers that took the experience of the Fair to the provinces was used as a float. It had the collaboration of the authors ‘Antoniorrobles’ (Antonio Robles Soler), Salvador Bartolozzi and Ramón Gómez de la Serna, dressed as Three Wise Men. This initiative was intended to disseminate children’s and young people’s books, in addition to encouraging part of toy purchases to be dedicated to the acquisition of books. They visited the bookstores that had decided to participate in this original initiative such as La Casa del Libro, San Martín, Pueyo, Bailly-Baillière, Francisco Beltrán or Enrique Prieto, among others.

Municipal guards in full dress on horseback escorted the procession during the long journey, enlivened with music and speeches by Gaspar, Melchior and Baltasar from the truck’s public address system. They left from the headquarters of the Editors’ Association, on Conde de Aranda Street, at 3:30 p.m. They crossed Serrano Street, Bárbara de Braganza Street, Fuencarral, Red de San Luis, Plaza de Callao, Avenida de Pi y Margall, Puerta del Sol and Plaza de la Villa. Throughout the entire route, the children crowded on the sidewalks, greeting and shouting at the Kings.