The Books You Inhabit: María Teresa León’s Copy of Marinero en tierra

Abstract

This article examines the visual and material aspects present in a book that, due to a series of interventions, becomes a unique work. In the 1930s Rafael Alberti (1902‑1999) illustrated a copy of the first edition of Marinero en tierra (1925) as a gift for María Teresa León (1903‑1988). She made her own marks in the book during her lifetime, converting it into her own space. This intimate space is transformed into a cultural crucible where creative complicities and historical realities, such as the Spanish Civil War, exile, and refuge, are summarized. The volume, by the will of the gift giver and the gift receiver, is no longer another printed copy of an important book, but is instead a living work with new and different connotations. Through this article, one reflects upon the book as an object and the value of drawings in books.