L’Eden di Ginevra ovvero il paradiso degli egoisti. 25 tavole umoristiche di Salvatore Quattrocchi
Milan: La Prora, 1935. Paperback. 178, [2] pp., illustrations, wraps. 9.75 x 7 in. Cover partially detached from spine, but holding. Edges of covers work. Bookplate on front pastedown: “Biblioteca Caproni.” Blind embossed stamp on title page: “Sicoeta Italiana degli autori ed edit.” Belly band with price and brief ad copy inserted.
A collection of brief prose that mocks and ridicules the attitudes of the British state and the League of Nations during the Abyssinia Crisis of 1935. The author dedicates the work to British fascists. Interspersed are satirical cartoons on the same topic, many with racist caricatures. Haile Selassie requested arbitration by the League of Nations after numerous rounds of Italian aggression and military incursion into Ethiopia. A long period of inaction was followed by unenforced sanctions; the League exonerated Italy of any wrong-doing immediately before Italy launched a direct invasion. The crisis led to Italy’s departure from the league and several European powers plotting to protect their own interest in Africa. The cover illustration, British people circling and celebrating before a statue of a fat pig, indeed suggests that greed and imperial ambition were central to the UK’s negative response to Italy’s attempts to conquer Ethiopia. Several variants of the covers exist. From the library of Federico Caproni, who co-founded an important early Italian aircraft manufacturer in 1908, which produced bombers and transport aircraft during both World Wars.
Cat.No: 298644
Price: $50.00