Posada & Manilla

Posada and Manilla is a slim volume that collects illustrations from 19th century children’s books by the popular Mexican printmakers and additionally provides plot summaries and analyses of the books’ themes. Although children’s books of the time were meant to be ephemeral, many have survived because of the expressive illustrations reproduced on these pages. A facsimile of a complete original picture book is included. I love the fantastical imagery and the striking hand lettering in these illustrations, and I was fascinated by the window into the 19th century imagination that the art of Posada and Manilla provides.