The exhibition “Cinc cèntims valia el llibret!: tresor fallers de la Biblioteca Històrica de la Universitat de València” was inaugurated with the presence of the rector of the University, Mª Vicenta Mestre, the councilor of Festive Culture in the City Council of Valencia, Pere Fuset, and the Fallera Mayor of Valencia, Marina Civera.

Also attending the ceremony were the vicerector for Culture and Sports, Antonio Ariño, the director of the Library Service, Victoria García, the director of the Historical Library of the University, Mª Jesús García Mateu, and the curators of the exhibition Josep Lluís Marín and Javier Mozas, members of the Association de Estudis Fallers.

The Historical Library of the Universitat de València keeps one of the most complete collections of Fallas literature from the last third of the 19th century, which, paradoxically, is less known than the others. It’s a bibliographic fund composed of about two hundred llibrets de falla (Fallas booklets), half of which are the only existing copies.
 
This collection is of particular interest, since it brings us closer to a period in which the Fallas started to feature prominently on the holiday schedule of the Cap i Casal, a tense moment between the traditional celebration and the authorities’ attempts to control it. This was also the time in which the llibrets de fallas were consolidated as a singular editorial product in a successful dialogue with other contemporary expressions of satirical literature.
 
The exhibition Cinc cèntims valia el llibret! displays a selection of these llibrets, as well as other documents related to Fallas and other local holidays, from the libraries of the Universitat de València. This combination allows us to have a look at the Fallas of this time by means of its literary expressions.

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