Juego de Lotería para los niños.
Printed broadside (44 x 31.4 cm). 48 vignettes, with text. Letterpress title on top and “No. 25” on upper left corner, and wood-engraved vignettes; game instructions printed letterpress at bottom, followed by imprint. Age toned, some small marginal tears, horizontal fold at center and along corners, and six small pinholes along the left margin not affecting image area. Very good condition overall. This auca of a lottery game for children features 52 wood-engraved vignettes of angels, flag bearers, Lords, Ladies, and laborers. Beneath the vignettes are detailed instructions of how to play this children’s game. The auca, a unique visual storytelling format, originated in Catalonia. They are separately printed sheets which were sold individually. Similar to comics but with a more structured approach, aucas typically feature 48 evenly sized images, each accompanied by a rhyming couplet of text known as a rodolí. Aucas appear to have developed in the 17th century and were used for gambling and divination. Over time, they evolved into a popular art form, often depicting themes related to arts, crafts, games, and animals. Aucas reached their artistic zenith in the 19th century, with renowned artists collaborating with printers like Llorens and expanding their scope to include history, biography, and moral tales. While the popularity of aucas began to decline in the late 19th century, they found new life in Madrid, where a series of Castilian aucas called “aleluya” were produced, focusing on Catholic holidays. Little is known about the publisher, Antonio Bosch, or the printer, Narciso Ramirez, who issued this and other aucas in Barcelona in the 1860s and 1870s. We have located a copy of this auca at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
* See Monserrat Galí Boadella, Imatges de la Memòria (Barcelona: Editorial Alta Fulla, 1999).
Price: $375.00