[SPANISH CIVIL WAR] COMINTERN

International Press Correspondence [aka INPRECOR; aka World News and Views]. Collection of 249 Issues, 1934–1939

London: H.R.G. Jefferson [et al], 1934-1939. NOTE: Other identified publishers (all London) include: Unthanks Bookshop; R. Bishop; William Massey. Beginning in July, 1938 title changes to "World News and Views."

Collection of two hundred forty-nine quarto issues in original staple-bound self-wrappers. Each issue 27cm x 21cm; most issues ca 20pp (numbered sequentially). General wear, occasional creasing or small losses; some copies marked as "File Copies;" some with red pencil annotations, presumably for publication; a few issues with ink pressure stamp of the Los Angeles Workers Library. With the exception of a few issues in 1934, the journal was printed on high-quality newsprint; the run is well-preserved, Very Good overall and fully readable.

The periodical was issued irregularly, from one to as many as three issues per week; our run collates as follows:

Vol. 14 (1934): 2,8-14,16,17,19-23,26,29-32,34-36,38-40,43-45,57,60-63 (32 issues)
Vol. 15 (1935): 1-5,8-31,36,38,39,44,47,48,50,55,56,58,59,61,63,64,66,68-72 (49 issues)
Vol. 16 (1936): 1,2,4,6-30,32-38,40,42-58 (53 issues)
Vol. 17 (1937): 2,4,8-24,26,42,44,45,47-53,55-57 (47 issues)
Vol. 18 (1938): 1-3,5-8,10,12-23,25,27,30,31,33,34,36-40,44-47,52,54,56-60 (38 issues)
Vol. 19 (1939): 2-9,14,15,18,19,20-26,28-32,35-41,55 (30 issues).

Beginning in 1918, immediately following the Russian Revolution, International Press Correspondence (usually called by its acronym, INPRECOR) became the Communist International's principal international organ for distributing "official" news of the global spread of Marxist ideology. The paper was issued in four languages (English, French, Spanish and German) and at its height no fewer than one and as many as three issues per week appeared. The chief audience was the editorial staffs of COMINTERN-aligned newspapers, where many of INPRECOR's articles would be republished verbatim. Thus, INPRECOR served as a de facto press service for the left-wing media in Europe, North and Latin America.

In our experience, cohesive runs of INPRECOR in any size are unusual; this collection represents a veritable treasure-trove of official COMINTERN policy during the Popular Front period, especially valuable for its day-by-day coverage and interpretation of events in Spain before, during, and after the Civil War, and for documenting the rise of fascism across the European continent. Our run ends in August, 1939, on the eve of Germany's invasion of Poland and the outbreak of the Second World War. Between that date and 1934, despite occasional lacunae, the issues offered here provide a clear and compelling narrative of the sweep of world events leading to the World War, and an intimate view of the communist left's response to those events.

Even individual issues are somewhat scarce in commerce. Earlier issues of INPRECOR have been digitized by the Marxist Internet Archive, ending in 1934. Much of the run is available in microfiche produced by the Communist Party of Great Britain, but the imaging is of legendarily poor quality, basically illegible in many places. Holdings for physical issues are spotty per WorldCat, with many institutions holding small samples or partial runs.

Price: $2,500.00

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