Los amores/The Loves is a unique artist book, which includes four poems written by Pablo Neruda, with seven original drawings by Manuel Neri. The poem Oda al secreto amor was included in Neruda’s book of poems Nuevas odas elementales, first published by Editorial Losada, Buenos Aires in 1955, and published in English in 1995 by Bulfinch Press/Little, Brown and Company, in Pablo Neruda, Odes to Opposites, selected and illustrated by Ferris Cook, and translated by Ken Krabbenhoft. The poem Juntos nosotros / We Together was published in Neruda’s book Residencia en la tierra (1), 1925–1931, by Nascimiento, Santiago, Chile, in 1933, and published in English in 1973 by New Directions in Residence on Earth, translated by Donald D. Walsh. The poem Soneto XXXV / Sonnet XXXV was first published in 1959 in Neruda’s book Cien sonetos de amor by Editorial Universitaria, Santiago, Chile, published in English in 1986 by the University of Texas Press in 100 Love Sonnets / Cien sonetos de amor, translated by Stephen Tapscott. The poem Agua sexual / Sexual Water was published in Neruda’s book Residencia en la tierra (2), 1925–1935, by Cruz y Raya, Madrid, in 1935, and published in English in 1973 by New Directions in Residence on Earth, translated by Donald D. Walsh. Poems by Pablo Neruda are © Fundación Pablo Neruda. The drawings by Manuel Neri, in oil-paint stick, charcoal, and graphite, are figure studies from the Rock series of c. 1969, and the Shunga – Torso series done in 1981, and were selected by Manuel Neri to accompany the poems for this book. The Introduction was written in English by Mary Julia Klimenko and translated into Spanish by Jaime Moreno Villarreal. The calligraphy of the text and page designs were created and executed by Thomas Ingmire on Rives BFK White paper in the Spring of 2006.
The binding structure for the book was designed by Daniel E. Kelm at the Wide Awake Garage in Easthampton, Massachusetts. The book is bound in goatskin leather, with unique leather onlays, hand-tooling and stamping in gold and palladium leaf. The leather binding for the book has been designed and produced by Daniel E. Kelm, Kylin Lee and other mechanics at the Wide Awake Garage in Easthampton, Massachusetts. The book is housed in a slipcase covered in Japanese bookcloth by Linda Lembke at Green River Bindery in Guilford, Vermont.