POE_04-38

Many ballads were known before their publication, given Federico’s character as a minstrel. He recited them at the Residence, in Barcelona (at the Athenaeum in 1925), at numerous meetings with friends… and also published some in magazines (in the Litoral magazine some ballads appeared at the end of November 1926 which contained an errata, thus provoking Federico’s anger and causing the return of three other manuscripts he had given to Emilio Prados for publication and which he returned to the poet for correction.

In 1927, a well-known critic, Ricardo Baeza, asked him in the pages of the El Sol newspaper, in connection with the publication of Canciones (Songs), not to delay the publication of the Romancero Gitano (Gypsy Ballads) any longer, predicting that this book would be his true “enthronement” as a poet. In general, the book’s release was eagerly awaited.