AN EXCEPTIONAL ASSOCIATION COPY, FIRST EDITION OF VAVRA’S CURRO, INSCRIBED BY VAVRA, AND MATADORS JOHN FULTON AND CURRO CAMACHO

VAVRA, Robert. Curro: Reflections of a Spanish Youth. [Sevilla]: (Imprenta Sevillana, 1975). Folio, original black cloth, original photographic slipcase. $800.

First edition, one of 850 copies, of Vavra’s photo-essay on matador Curro Camacho, with text by Camacho. Boldly inscribed by Vavra and artist and matador John Fulton on the half title in the year of publication, “For Stuart and Barbara—through the kindness of Gary and Deborah—who have visited and enjoyed Spain—most especially Sevilla—With all best wishes from Robert Vavra, John Fulton, 1975 Sevilla.” Also inscribed in different ink by co-author and matador Curro Camacho, “Recuerdos de Curro Camacho.” With over 135 striking black-and-white photographs (many double-page) by Vavra, and book design by John Fulton.

Author of over 30 books, internationally-recognized photographer Robert Vavra long envisioned a tribute to his beloved Sevilla, honoring its unique importance to the world of bullfighting. His close friendship with Philadelphia-born artist and matador John Fulton, the first North American to achieve the highest professional rank of a matador in Spain, along with acclaim for his work on James Michener’s Iberia, brought Vavra closer to his goal. He ultimately found his ideal subject in the charismatic matador Curro Camacho, a novice bullfighter befriended and trained by Fulton. Camacho, whose poignant essays are interwoven with the book’s photographs, inspired Vavra to “try to capture in one book something of the lives of two endangered species—the Sevillano and the bullfighter.”

A fine copy.