THE BIBLE IN THE SPANISH WAR

Evening Post, Volume CXXIV, Issue 57, 4 September 1937, Page 27

THE BIBLE IN THE SPANISH WAR

For three days recently Barcelona, forgetting war and bombardments, gave itself up to buying books, writes a correspondent of the "Manchester Guardian." It was the annual Book Fair. The hundreds of stalls displayed a cross-section of average Spanish: culture, which undoubtedly had some effect upon the course of events during the past ten years and more especially upon, the tendencies since July 19, 1936,

Fully half the books were translations; some are of English and Amerj-. can detective stories, more are of Rus-? sian, German, and French sociological novels, and-sociological and scientific studies. The Cenit Publishing Company has for several years been pro^ viding excellent translations of such Soviet Russian novelists as Furmanov, Gladkov, Bebel, and Piatnitsky, and these are. devoured; by Spanish readers, for they are extraordinarily cheap,- the most expensive being about one shilling. ,

There were also series of dignified classics such as Darwin, ReClus, and Engel3, in covers which would undoubtedly have astonished the authors.

The big successes of this year appear to be translations of Stefan Zwejg, Emil Ludwig, and. pf Aldpus. Huxley's "Brave New World." Rivalling these, ironically enough, are the Generalidad's little publications on "How to Avoid Being Gassed, in Air Raids," "How tp Make fiOO Tasty Pishes with Strictly Rationed Food," and "How tp Advance tfnder Ma.chine-gun Fire." Most interesting of the successes i?

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the Bible. For one peseta (6d at par) you can buy, according -to the advertisement, , 484 pages, . including "The New Testament, the True 'Life of Christ, the True Doctrine of Christ, the True Primitive Church, the True Future pf Humanity," In fact, another guide to good living, beside/ "Libertarian Communism" and 'The Classless Society."

The Bible is sold by a small shop which has been open continuously since July 19, 1936, except Sundays. It is a branch of the Bible Society, and is directed by a Swiss, M. Suess. More Bibles have been sold in the past ten months than in the same time \the year before. The Bible Society, as in lije time of George Borrow, was never well regarded by the Roman Catholic Church in Spain. Appropriately enough, the shop's window is, adorned with a quotation from President Azana declaring his wish that there shall be complete liberty pf conscience in the new Spain. Senpr Azaria is Borrows translator.

All sprts Pf people buy fee. Bible. Watching fee stall for halt an hour, I saw it bought by two Shock Police, a tramwayman, and.two elderly women of the lower-middle class. Two militiamen handled it gingerly, ob-. viously tempted by the 484 pages so cheap," but did not buy. The Bible House, as the shop is called, has not been molested in any way, The notice pn the dQpr-^"iSind!y do not requisition any qf fee goods in this store"— Ist hardly likely, to be necessary. The , anti^religious movement, in Barcelona today hardly exists.