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Rare Jose Marti ALS from NY Mentioning Pro-Independence Cuban Newspapers
Rare Jose Marti ALS from NY Mentioning Pro-Independence Cuban Newspapers
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Description:

Marti Jose

Rare Jose Marti ALS from NY Mentioning Pro-Independence Cuban Newspapers

 

3pp ALS inscribed overall and signed by Cuban revolutionary Jose Marti (1853-1895) as "J. Marti" at bottom of third page. Written on blank stationery paper in New York City on October 21 of an unknown year, probably 1880-1881. In very good condition. Overall toning and scattered light foxing. Paper folds are well-worn and brittle; some clean splits have been carefully and professionally repaired. One repair crosses the "J" of Marti's signature although it is not at all noticeable. Each page measures 8.375" x 10.5." Accompanied by a full Spanish transcription and English translation.

 

Cuban expatriate Jose Marti wrote this letter to an unknown correspondent named Gabriel who probably worked at the Cuban newspaper El Triunfo [The Triumph. In it, Marti urges his friend to consider moving to the United States.

 

"My dear Gabriel,

 

I take advantage of the first day of rest that I have had this month to write you. I do not want those who are in my trust to lose confidence. And since I love you I can be lazy with those of whom I know so much…

 

I think I told you better in the letter [I sent you last weekthat it won't be necessary to mention it again. I directed the letter to 'El Triunfo' and there it should be if not in your hands already.

 

What you are interested in is knowing if you can find a means to live in N. York. To my judgment this depends only on the things that you know already, 'the language of the land' and a will, because without them it is impossible to make a living here, not to come to invest capital in businesses with other countries.

 

Will is necessary to make it here in this life of flocks of city workers. Just that it is a flock of kings.

 

I don't mean in any way that absolute dominion of the language is necessary to find a job. By the way, I don't know it [English this way either, and although I write in it without a problem, I speak it comically and I [still have found a buyer for my work.

 

It is something intelligent, it would be enough if you could understand what they talk to you about and if they could understand what you say because our fast insights at work will go beyond their expectation. Your little knowledge of the language will be enough for the people here. People who speak Spanish and French are really liked here. I tell you this for mere prudence because I know you are a good Anglophile and you won't find anything different here. Do not worry about business duties which are so ordinary and petty in my opinion; to see them is to be their master.

 

I say goodbye, so I will have time to respond to other letters. When you come, bring armfuls of Cuban papers. I can't find a place to read 'El Almendares'; I am thankful that they published something about me but have not yet had a chance to read any edition.

 

Let me know what you think about your first letter...Nag Agustin for not wanting to fix my iron ring which was the only one that fit my finger. Say hello to Federico Garcia and believe that I love you.

 

J. Marti."

 

Jose Marti was a writer who tirelessly promoted the cause of Cuban independence during his brief lifetime. A philosopher, political theorist, and activist, Marti was also a journalist, poet, essayist, academic, and translator who championed Cuban nationalism while still a teenager. Marti traveled extensively in Spain, Latin America, the Caribbean, and the United States, where he galvanized support for Cuban independence. He wrote impassioned newspaper articles, established separatist organizations, and rallied Cuban expatriate tobacco workers. And although Marti was killed early on during the Cuban War of Independence (1895-1898), his theories and writings later inspired twentieth-century Cuban political movements.

 

Marti lived in New York between 1880-1895. He wrote for dozens of international newspapers and even established a few of his own during his travels. Marti understood that media could disseminate political ideas and serve as a barometer for public opinion. This in part explains his eagerness to read inaccessible Cuban newspapers while an American exile.

 

Havana-based El Triunfo, which later became El Pais, was known for its separatist, or autonomist, leanings. The International Newspaper Agency estimated that El Triunfo had 8,000 readers and El Aldemendares had 5,000 readers in Havana in 1884; the city's population was then 300,000.

 

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