El Hospital General. A los Valientes Picadores, Eulogio Hernandez, Bernardo Camey y Felipe Chiguichi. En Testimonio de Gratitud [caption title]

Guatemala, 1888. Good.. Broadside, 13.25 x 10.25 inches. Printed in gold. Old folds, slight separation, some chipping and wear at right edge. Unusual broadside souvenir printed by a Guatemalan hospital, thanking three bullfighters for fundraising efforts on their behalf. The Hospital General San Juan de Dios de Guatemala was founded in 1667. In the 1880s it undertook to restore and maintain the colonial-era Plaza de Toros, the local bullfighting ring, which was a popular spot for the local corridas and other forms of entertainment. The hospital would then receive the income from the bullfights and other festivities. Herein, three picadores are individually thanked for participation in what we suspect was a Corrida de Beneficencia in early 1888. This handsome piece utilizes numerous typefaces and is printed in gold.