The Ministry of Culture today awarded the Awards to the Best Published Books during the year 2024 in five thematic groups: art, bibliophilia, facsimiles, children and young people, and general and popular works. The awards have no financial prize.
From among 140 works valued, the jury has highlighted in art books ‘OMEN. Phantasmagoria at the Farm Security Administration Archive 1935-1944’by León Muñoz Santini and Jorge Panchoaga, which won first prize with historical photographs of big names such as Dorothea Lange or Walker Evans and layout by Pablo Ortiz Monasterio (RM Verlag). The jury highlights “the quality of the printing and the type of paper”, as well as its “risky composition”, together with an “apparently simple, but exquisite” design.
The second prize went to ‘Green awning. Postcards from other heritage’by Pablo Arboleda and Kike Carbajal, with design by Jaime Narváez (Asimetric Editions). The work was recognized “for the originality of the cover, consistent with the content,” and its “precious finish that is unusual in books on this subject.”
The third prize was ‘Teresa Solar Abboud’published by the Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona Consortium together with international institutions. In this case the jury has especially valued “the variety of papers, the printing quality and the different formats of the sheets”, which generate “an original and very careful result”.
Regarding Bibliophilia Books, ‘Sonnets of dark love’by Federico García Lorca and published by Summa Editorial, has won first prize thanks to its innovative printing technique with mineral pigmented inks. Likewise, the second prize goes to ‘Gypsy Romance’by Millennium Liber, for the high quality of the reproductions and the harmony of its presentation in a case. The third award went to ‘Poems’, by Joan Salvat-Papasseit, where the jury highlighted the originality of each volume and the artisanal care of the binding.
In the Facsimiles category, the first prize recognizes ‘Aratea: The Phainomena of Arato de Solos’from Íncipit Manuscript Ediciones, for their effort in realistically reproducing the original using current production methods. Thus, the second prize has distinguished ‘From My Hand. Autographs of Isabel La Católica’from Taberna Libraria, for the originality in the selection and arrangement of the cards. The third prize goes to ‘Teresa’by Miguel de Unamuno, published by the University of Salamanca, for rescuing and making scarcely accessible archival documents available to the public.
The Children’s and Young People’s Books section has also had outstanding proposals and the first prize has gone to ‘Mountains‘, by Regina Giménez Froiz (Dos Mil Set Zahori de Ideas), a work of contemporary aesthetics with a print in desaturated colors that caught the attention of the jury. After, ‘Panthera Tigris’by Sylvain Alzial and Hélène Rajcak (Kalandraka Catalunya), has won second prize thanks to its brave use of fluorescent color and the richness of its illustrations. The third place is occupied ’72 days and a dress. Around the World of Nellie Bly’edited by A Fin de Cuentos, for its successful period setting and its balanced alternation between text and image.
Finally, the awarded General and Dissemination Works were, in first place, ‘Because of a flor’by María Médem (Blackie Books), recognized for her risky use of color and her creative ambition; Likewise, the second prize has distinguished ‘The secret of the oriole’by Emily Dickinson (Nordic Books), for its balanced and elegant design; Afterwards, the third prize went to ‘JSP. Joan Saved Papaseit. Poet with lowercase’ (Godall Edicions), valued for its dust jacket in poster format, its binding with exposed spine and the choice of a paper that facilitates reading, thus underlining the importance of design in contemporary dissemination.