Arcana:

Alcalde, Alfonso. Santiago, CHILE: Editora Nacional Quimantu, 1973. First Edition. 8vo. Pictorial Wrappers. Photographic Survey. Very Good -.. 160pp, profusely illustrated in b&w. Text in Spanish. In a protective clear acetate dustwrapper. Editora Nacional Quimantú was the Chilean publishing house founded in 1971 by Salvador Allende's Unidad Popular government with the goal of offering variou160pp, profusely illustrated in b&w. Text in Spanish. In a protective clear acetate dustwrapper. Editora Nacional Quimantú was a Chilean publishing house founded in 1971 by Salvador Allende's Unidad Popular government with the goal of offering various literary works and a view of Chilean culture not covered by the "official bourgeois tradition". The books published by Quimantú were sold at very low prices in bookshops and newspaper kiosks in order to effectively make culture more accessible for the country's working class. Emblematic of this inexpensive fare for the masses was Alfonso Alcalde's "Vivir O Morir", a rushed-to-the-presses photojournalistic account of the sensational 1972 discovery and rescue of the survivors of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571. One of the twentieth century's most well-known air disasters, the plane crashed into a high elevation Chilean glacier, and despite intense rescue efforts, the craft and its remaining passengers were not found until seventy-two days afterwards. Of the fifty-seven people aboard, only sixteen survived both the impact and the inhospitable, snowbound mountains to be rescued; and in doing so, were forced to resort to eating the bodies of the deceased. Filled with photographs from the initial rescue, this sensational account of what became known as "The Miracle of the Andes" was the first book to tell the survivors' harrowing tale. A most presentable example of the exceedingly uncommon 1973 first printing showing some overall wear, rubbing, and slight age-toning to its newsprint pages along with an ink previous ownership inscription on the inside front cover. Inventory Number: 026687