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Irmaos Vitale S.A., Sao Paulo, Published 1981. Hardcover, [159] pp.; 31 cm; square format; English edition, translated from the Portuguese by Peter T. Seidl; illustrated throughout with pencil drawings and several full-color double-page spreads; illustrated endpapers.
In Good condition, no dust jacket. Black textured boards with blind-embossed samba dancer on front cover; white lettering on front cover and silver lettering on spine. Light bumping and rubbing to edges and corners with some color loss at corners. Two light scratches to upper right of front cover and a small scuffed patch at lower right. Rear board with moderate scuffing and scattered scratches, including a long vertical scratch, and a small ripple to covering along top edge near spine. Binding tight. Endpapers toned; a few small brown spots in gutter of some pages. Pages otherwise clean and unmarked. English edition of Lan's pictorial history of the Rio de Janeiro samba schools, in large-format caricatures by the Italian-born Brazilian cartoonist Lan (Lanfranco Vaselli, 1925-2020), with text by Haroldo Costa. Translated from the Portuguese edition, E Hoje (1978). Costa's text traces samba from its African roots through the terreiro (court) samba to the schools and Parade Day, with drawings of the drummers, dancers and composers, and profiles of sambistas including Mano Decio da Viola of Imperio Serrano. The preface records Lan as proprietor-member no. 35 of the Portela samba school, which adopted him. Also includes "The Carioca Citizen," an essay on Lan by the Rio journalist Sergio Porto, with a full-page photographic portrait of the artist. Lan drew for Ultima Hora and the Jornal do Brasil for most of his career. Bibliography; colophon dated December 10, 1981.