Walter Benjamin. José Emilio Pacheco, trans. & prologue. Miguel Gonzalez, trans. Vicente Rojo, design.

Paris: Capital del Siglo XIX [Paris: Capital of the 19th Century]

Mexico City: Librería Madero, 1971. In wraps. 54, [6] pp. 8 ½ x 6 in. Slight rubbing to spine; near fine. Item #10525

Exceedingly rare first stand-alone publication of Walter Benjamin’s essay Paris, Capital of the 19th Century in Spanish - profusely illustrated and designed by the major Spanish-Mexican artist Vicente Rojo, and translated by the renowned Mexican poet and novelist José Emilio Pacheco, with Miguel Gonzalez.

Produced out-of-commerce as a gift to friends and colleagues, this edition of Benjamin’s famed essay, meant to serve as a sketch for Benjamin’s uncompleted The Arcades Project, covering the full spectrum of themes whose development was ultimately intended, is particularly notable for being co-translated by one of Mexico’s foremost poets, novelists, and essayists, José Emilio Pacheco. It is the first separate Spanish translation of this essay by Benjamin, the first Mexican publication of Benjamin, and among the first publications of Benjamin in Spanish. 

A major Mexican writer and artist, respectively, collaborating to create this out-of-commerce, scarce, and illustrated edition of one of Walter Benjamin’s most celebrated late-period essays. 

OCLC locates one example in the United States as of March 2026.

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