Throughout the 20th century, vast amounts of books from all over the world were imported to the U.S. to build massive research libraries. In Latin America, U.S. booksellers and librarians avidly pursued the private collections of authors and scholars, sometimes dispersing them in order to build the holdings of the repositories elsewhere. Traces left by previous owners are revealing, but are also often neglected as these materials were seldom considered “rare books” and thus have not received the same amount of attention from book historians or bibliographers.

Carlos E. Carrillo Velásquez, a prison administrator, advantaged himself of the central penitentiary of Lima’s print shop and bindery to produce bindings and numerous bookplates for his own collection. The link between prison labor and bibliophilia is especially apparent in a bookplate, found on printed waste from a previous job, whose text extols the moral values and virtues of literacy.

“Biblioteca Particular Carlos E. Carrillo Velásquez” in The Book Club of California Quarterly Vol. 85, no. 4 (Fall 2020). Image courtesy of Jose Guerrero.

“Biblioteca Particular Carlos E. Carrillo Velásquez” in The Book Club of California Quarterly Vol. 85, no. 4 (Fall 2020). Images courtesy of Jose Guerrero.