"In the old publishing house, there
remained just a clock, a crystal ashtray and a couple of levers of what had once been a
brand-new printer; but, there remained something far more important than all this : the
sheer effort contained in the three men's works! And beginning with the front pages of
Ricardo's copperplate engravings, Pio Baroja's texts and novels and the Erasmus vignette
by Holbein - the symbol of my father's old publishing house - I started, in 1972, the
Commemorative Series of the Centenary of Pio Baroja's birth."
As the
first editions of the time bear witness, the House was set up at Calle de Ventura
Rodríguez 18, Madrid, a bookshop following thereafter, situated in the well-located Plaza
de Canalejas 16. By 1918, the Publishing House had its own printing machine which,
together with the publishing business itself and the whole Baroja Family, moved two
years later to Calle de Mendizábal 34, an address where it and they remained for many a
year. The business grew rapidly and, within three years, had established itself firmly and
become a prosperous enterprise.Julio Caro Baroja recalled how it
was not uncommon to see the young apprentices of the Publishing House kick a paper ball in
the middle of Calle Mendizábal, while Pio sat writing or Ricardo added ink
to a copperplate, prior to setting it up on the rolling-press. Pio Caro still
remembers the sound of the Minerva and LM printing machines operating during the day;
also, their distant cooing invading the house at night.
In 1929, Rafael Caro Raggio issued a
splendid Literature, Arts and Sciences Catalogue. The frontispiece had been
executed by Juan Basilio and the catalogue included cartoons of Don Pio, Azorín and
Eugenio D'Ors drawn by Bagaria. Inside were to be found many reproductions of the
published works' title pages, as well as their price index.. And what prices these were!
They ranged from the 1.5 pesetasworth of Momentum Catastrophicum to the 12 pesetas
of Las Inquietudes de Shanti Andia. On the counter-pages one would read: "R.Caro
Raggio, Publisher & Printer. Mendizábal 34, Madrid. Telephone 33453". And
between the catalogue's flyleaves were to be found around three hundred titles, given that
- aside from handling Baroja - the House had also published a great many books,
including the Complete Works of Azorín and up to four editions of El Fuego,
Enrique Barbusse's novel translated into French. Rafael Caro Raggio also
created the Library of Arts directed by his brother-in-law, Ricardo
Baroja, a Philosophical Library, a Library of Popular Medicine (with
Marañón and Pittaluga as contributors), an Esoteric Sciences'
Library and two collections of works, that were the bestsellers of
their time, Las Grandes Enamoradas and El Jardín del Pecado;
translations from foreign authors, among them Willy, completed the list of works on
offer.
The Spanish Civil War stopped the
Publishing House in its tracks and Rafael Caro Raggio, its founder, died a broken
man in 1943.
In 1972, there remained just a clock, a
crystal ashtray and a couple of levers belonging to what had once been a brand-new
printer..but the founder's sons, Julio and Pio Caro Baroja picked up the
baton of the old Publishing House, in order to rescue something far more important than
its material assets. Theirs was the joint determination to bring back to life, the
creative effort that lay behind the work of the three Barojas. And beginning with Ricardo's
copperplate engraved frontispieces, Pio Baroja's texts and novels and the
Erasmus vignette by Holbein - the symbol of the old Publishing House - they began to print
the Series Commemorating the Centenary of Pio Baroja's Birth.
Right now, at the turn of the centuries and
the millenia, The Caro Raggio Publishing House continues to be the home of the
works of three men, without whom one would be at a loss to understand the literature, art
and culture of Spain : Pio Baroja, Ricardo Baroja and Julio Caro Baroja, nephew
of the former two and eldest son of the House's founder; his memory still presides the
developments of Caro Raggio. It is our intention to serve our clients with the same
warmth and enthusiasm as prevailed at the Publishing House in 1917, to continue publishing
and distributing the works of these three artistic personalities and to remain the main
point of reference for the World of the Barojas.
San Sebastián, Guipúzcoa, 28-XII-1872 - Madrid, 30-X-1956.
Writer with a vast cultural background,
doctor, author of over one hundred books, both novels and essays. Pio Baroja is one
of the most significant figures in Spanish Literature, which - according to some- has at
its foundation three essential figures: Cervantes, Galdós and Baroja himself.
He has been called the novelist par excellence of the so-called "Generation of
'98", an epithet he always declined in his time. His literature is characterised by a
strong degree of realism, not exempt of sensitivity and humour. His ideals are based on a
firm and passionate belief in individualism - which bordered on Anarchism in his youth -
and his characters are imbued with a sense of audacity and adventure. On account of his
independence of criteria, he never participated in any political project and consequently,
has sometimes been criticised for that attitude and, in tandem, for his intrinsic
pessimism. Agnostic, liberal, individualistic, he has a legion of passionate followers
among the reading public of the World.The Caro Raggio Publishing House is
the sole, worldwide holder of the rights to his entire works.
Minas de Río Tinto, Huelva, 1871
- Vera de Bidasoa, Navarra, 1953.
Eldest brother of Don Pio and Carmen,
he was a librarian and archivist during his youth; subsequently, he turned into a renowned
engraver, writer and painter. Among the many prizes won in these latter two fields were
the Second Prize in the Spanish National Fine Arts Exhibition of 1906, the Prize itself in
1908 and the Cervantes Literary Prize of 1935 for his book La Nao Capitana. Moreover,
as an engraver his works are of sufficient importance, to assign to him the accolade of
being Goya's successor in that field, according to diverse experts on the matter.
Ricardo was a man of fine
disposition and, as is obvious, of a wide variety of creative facets. He left behind him
over 130 engravings, in excess of 1000 oils and a collection of written works that pass
the two dozen mark, both essays and novels. Of the latter, we can single out five as being
his most renowned : El Pedigree, La Nao Capitana, El Dorado, Gente del 98 and
Bienaventuranza y Fortuna.
The Caro Raggio Publishing House is
the sole, worldwide holder of the rights to his entire works.
Madrid, 1914 - Vera de Bidasoa, Navarra, 1995.
Historian, ethnologist, anthropologist,
Julio Caro Baroja is undoubtedly - on the strength of his extensive body of work
alone - one of the truly great polygraphs of this Century. Having first obtained his PhD in
Ancient History at the University of Madrid, he subsequently worked there in a
professorial capacity until being appointed Director of the Museum of the Spanish People,
in Spain's capital. Thereafter, Julio embarked on a life that combined lecturing in
a great many foreign universities and institutions, with research and publishing
definitive works on a variety of subjects so wide, that they almost defy human
possibilities. His work and life are a mirror of erudition, taste, reliability and keen
independence from the patterns of fashions and transitory philosophical trends.
Of his many books, the following are
perhaps those best known by the reading public : Los Pueblos de España, Los Vascos,
Las Brujas y su Mundo, Los Judios en la España Moderna y Contemporánea, Vidas Mágicas e
Inquisición, Los Baroja and Las Formas Complejas de la Vida Religiosa.
Julio Caro Baroja was a member
of Spain's Royal Academies of History and Languages. He was a holder of the Príncipe de
Asturias Prize for Social Sciences, of the Príncipe de Viana and Spanish Arts awards, as
well as of the Menéndez Pelayo International Prize, amongst others.
The Caro Raggio Publishing House is
the sole, worldwide holder of the rights to his entire works.