Vincente Blasco Ibáñez – författare

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1916) is a novel by Vicente Blasco Ibáñez. Published at the height of his career as a popular Spanish author, The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse was adapted into a 1921 silent film starring Rudolph Valentino and later into a 1962 feature directed by Vincente Minelli. In 1919, the novel became a bestseller in the United States. "'And when the sun arises in a few hours, the world will see coursing through its fields the four horsemen, enemies of mankind. . . . Already their wild steeds are pawing the ground with impatience; already the ill-omened riders have come together and are exchanging the last words before leaping into the saddle.'" At the outbreak of the First World War, two families-and countless more-are torn apart by hatred and conflict that threatens to bring an end to humanity itself. Julio Desnoyers, a young man of mixed Argentine and French descent, leaves a life of luxury behind in search of glory and romance. Convinced that only sacrifice will win him the hand of his lover Marguerite, he enlists as a soldier in the French army. Meanwhile, his mother is forced to reckon with the marriage of her sister to a German man. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse showcases Blasco Ibáñez's sense of tragedy and devotion to the politics of peace, both of which guide his depiction of humanity at war with itself. This edition of Vicente Blasco Ibáñez's The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse is a classic of Spanish literature reimagined for modern readers.

Since our inception in 2020, Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh, professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover, all while maintaining the integrity of the original book.

With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.

Blood and Sand (1908) is a novel by Vicente Blasco Ibáñez. Published at the height of his career as a popular Spanish author, Blood and Sand was adapted into a 1916 silent film by the author himself and was remade three times, in 1922, 1941, and 1989. Predating Ernest Hemingway's celebrated depictions of bullfighting by over a decade, Blasco Ibáñez's novel remains an essential work of literature portraying one of Spain's oldest and most controversial traditions. "Scarcely had the second bull appeared when Gallardo, by his activity and his desire to shine, seemed to fill the whole plaza. His cape was ever near the bull's nose. A picador of his cuadrilla, the one called Potaje, was thrown from his horse and lay unprotected near the horns, but the maestro, grabbing the beast's tail, pulled with herculean strength and made him turn till the horseman was safe. The public applauded, wild with enthusiasm." Born into poverty, Juan Gallardo knows what it means to struggle and survive. From the streets of Spain, he rises to become one of the nation's greatest bullfighters, a man for whom danger is merely an opportunity to showcase his talent. As lovers and fans flock to his side, Juan learns a new kind of danger, one with far more uncertain consequences than those he faces as a torero. With stunning depictions of the bullfighting ring and stirring evocations of urban life in Madrid and Seville, Blood and Sand is a masterpiece of twentieth century literature. This edition of Vicente Blasco Ibáñez's Blood and Sand is a classic of Spanish literature reimagined for modern readers.

Since our inception in 2020, Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh, professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover, all while maintaining the integrity of the original book.

With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.

Mare Nostrum (1918) is a novel by Vicente Blasco Ibáñez. Published at the height of his career as a popular Spanish author, Mare Nostrum was adapted into a 1926 silent film by Irish director Rex Ingram starring his American wife Alice Terry, an icon of early cinema. Believed lost for decades, the film has been recently rediscovered and restored. "All that mankind had ever written or dreamed about the Mediterranean, the doctor had in his library and could repeat to his eager little listener. In Ferragut's estimation the mare nostrum ["Mare Nostrum" (Our Sea), the classic name for the Mediterranean.] was a species of blue beast, powerful and of great intelligence-a sacred animal like the dragons and serpents that certain religions adored, believing them to be the source of life." Raised in a proud Spanish family, Ulysses Ferragut is expected to follow in his father's footsteps by becoming a doctor. Enamored with tales of the Mediterranean as told by his seafaring uncle, nicknamed the Triton, Ulysses chooses to become a sailor instead. As a young man, he finds success as the captain and owner of the freighter Mare Nostrum, but obligations to his wife and son force him to abandon his dream. As the horrors of the First World War wreak havoc on Europe, the demand for shipping makes it impossible for Ulysses to resist a return to the sea. While in Italy, however, he finds more than he bargained for in the form of Freya Talberg, a beautiful Austrian who harbors a dangerous secret. This edition of Vicente Blasco Ibáñez's Mare Nostrum is a classic of Spanish literature reimagined for modern readers.

Since our inception in 2020, Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh, professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover, all while maintaining the integrity of the original book.

With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.

Vicente Blasco Ibáñez was born in Valencia, Spain on 29th January 1867.

At university, he studied law and graduated in 1888 but never felt the urgency to practice - he was more interested in politics, journalism, literature and women.

Politically he was a militant Republican partisan and, in his youth, founded a newspaper, El Pueblo (The People). The newspaper was taken to court many times and he made many enemies. In one incident he was shot and almost killed. In 1896, Ibáñez was arrested and sentenced to a few months in prison.

Despite this colourful background he found time to write novels. His first published work was ‘La Araña Negra’ (The Black Spider) in 1892, a work that he later repudiated although at the time it was a useful vehicle for him to express his anti-clerical views.

In 1894, he published ‘Arroz y Tartana’ (Airs and Graces), about a late 19th Century widow in Valencia trying to keep up appearances in order to marry her daughters well.

Ibáñez’s next sequence of books studied rural life in the farmlands of Valencia and failed to gain much of an audience.

His writing now took on a new direction with its now familiar sensational and melodramatic themes in 1908 with ‘Sangre y Arena’ (Blood and Sand), which follows the career of Juan Gallardo from his poor beginnings as a child in Seville, to his rise to becoming a famous matador in Madrid

However, his greatest success was ‘Los Cuatro Jinetes del Apocalipsis (The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse) in 1916, which tells a tangled tale of the French and German sons-in-law of an Argentinian land-owner who find themselves fighting on opposite sides in the First World War. It was a literary and commercial sensation and became the best-selling book of 1919. It also propelled Rudolph Valentino to stardom in the 1921 film.

Ironically his fame in the English-speaking world has come not as a novelist but as the stories behind some of Hollywood’s greatest silent movies.

Vicente Blasco Ibáñez died in Menton, France on January 28th, 1928, the day before his 61st birthday.