He is the great-grandson, grandson and son of publishers, and he was practically born in this house full of books. The fifth of seven siblings, Pau Salvat has been excited all his life. His grandfather was Santiago Salvat Espasa who, even with an exceptional library, did not believe in bibliophilia; So he was a bit ghetto and he said that the book had to be good and popular. His father, Manuel, explained to him how the margins are made, the importance of typography, the width of the box so that the letter is optically perfect. He didn’t give her much money, but if it was for books, there were no limits (he still buys them every week). At the age of nine (in 1965), he subscribed to the Monitor encyclopedia, created by himself: Pau read the fascicles before they were published and commented on what he did not understand. That opened windows to another world. It wouldn’t be the only encyclopedia he would read in its entirety.
He recently received the Encyclopédie published in Geneva in 1779. It is in the library below, made of wood, matching the chestnut of the doors, next to the Catalan books, the Odyssey translated by Riba with engravings by Ricart, the Bernat Metge . And Claudina’s House, by Colette, with silk and Japanese paper endpapers, illustrations by Olga Sacharoff and translation by María Luz Morales. As a child, Salvat studied at Patmos, founded by his father, the priest Joan Alemany, and the writer Emili Teixidor, director of the school, who Platero and I read to them. It has an edition by Gustavo Gili illustrated by Josep Mompou – the composer’s brother – and an impeccable Brugalla binding. Exhibited on the walls, exlibris by Santiago Rusiñol, Apel·les Mestres and the original of the one he uses: a drawing by Josep Triadó from 1908.
At the back, in a separate room “that is like a cave”, the volumes for consultation and documentation. They are in some black Ikea kallax tuned with wheels, they form a kind of Tetris. An economist by training, he especially likes history; Paul Preston is essential. He keeps the novels as an almost natural exercise; He reads them at night and the only prize he follows is the Goncourt.
At the entrance there are art references –Picasso, Goya, Miró, Blake–, posters, the Bullipedia (a gift from Ferra Adrià), the Salvat in an edition from the 1950s. Also the large-format volumes in a purpose-built piece of furniture . And upstairs, in a space that maintains the ideal temperature and light for protection, the bibliophile books. Some incunabula, such as a Diogenes Laertius with spectacular capitulars, from 1495, or an Orlando Furioso from 1555, bound at the beginning of the 20th century by Hermenegildo Miralles (the first great bookbinder in Barcelona), “now this is not well regarded, the book “It must maintain maximum originality, but I really like it.”
Printed by Francisco del Hierro, it has the Dictionary of Authorities (the first dictionary of the Spanish language; the Royal Academy was created in 1713), a missal with silver threads, an 18th century Don Quixote by Ibarra bound by Sancha, “something spectacular” . And the Sallust. As he teaches it, his eyes light up: “This is brutal, the font, the italics, the golden ratio on each page; It is impeccable, it is the total perfection of the book.” He has a beautiful Sleeping Beauty of the Forest, a Blue Beard. He has specialized in French illustrated books.
His office is mobile and changes from one library to another, always with comfortable seats. When he is saturated with professional topics or whatever, he opens a book and it is like a breath of fresh air. He speaks with passion; of the best type that has ever existed, the Bodoni; by Georges Cretté and Marius-Michel, by Josep Cambras and René Kieffer. From the 18th century in France and England, from the disaster in the Barcelona printing presses due to the new plant decree. “You take botany, medicine, and zoology books from the 16th century, and they made hand-colored plates, enormous things.”
When you enter this world, you become completely soaked. He has been interested in almost everything and has passed it on to his children. But he is aware that you have to make the library, it is very personal. As president of the Barcelona Bibliophiles Association, created in 1944, he wants to open these windows to others.
