Editorial Masas was a small publisher in Mexico City, founded by Heinrich Gutmann. I found 8 titles, some of them just pamphlets, through various searches (abebooks, worldcat), all of them published 1938-39.
Cantos Para Soldados y Sones Para Turistas, Nicolás Guillén, Editorial Masas, 1937 (76 pages)
"El ABC de las Huelgas," Mario Pavón Flores, Editorial Masas, 1937 (196 pages)
"No Pasarán," Upton Sinclair, Various publishers including Editorial
Masas, 1937 (144 pages)
"Hombres Sin Mujer," Carlos Montenegro, Editorial Masas, 1938,
(242 pages)
"Sobre la Literatura y el Arte de Marx y Engels," ed by Jean Fréville, trans. by Pedro Geoffroy Rivas, Editorial Masas 1938
"Lazaro Cardenas - Visto por tres Hombres"
Joseph Freeman, Luis Chavez Orozco, Enrique Gutmann
Editorial Masas, 1937 (30 pages)
In 1937 Heinrich (Enrique) Gutmann founded the publisher, "Editorial Masas". Early that year Gutmann went with Lazaro Cardenas as photo-journalist on one of his travels through the country in support of agrarian reform. Cardenas granted Gutmann and Joseph Freeman an interview in Acapulco (Traven's hometown at that time) on his domestic program and support for the Spanish Republic. Gutmann published this under the title "Lazaro Cardenas - The Country Teacher of Mexico." A few months later Gutmann expanded this and published it under his new Editorial Masas banner as "Lazaro Cardenas - Visto por tres hombres" ("Cardenas - as seen by three men") a portrait of Cardenas with his own photos and written contributions by Joseph Freeman (New Masses editor) and Luis Chavez Orozco (author, educator, diplomat, undersecretary Education ministry).
"Contra Andre Gide"
Romain Rolland, Lion Feuchtwanger, Jose Mancisidor, Egon Erwin Kisch
Editorial Masas, 1937 (19 pages)
Pohle, Das Mexikanische Exil, 1986, p. 85 -
" ... booklet contains a contribution by the Mexican writer Jose Mancisidor and translations of statements by Romain Rolland, Lion Feuchtwanger and Egon Erwin Kisch on Andre Gide's Retour de I'URSS, the critical travelogue with which the French writer distanced himself from Stalin's Soviet Union."
Poniatowska, La Mirada que Limpia, 1996, p. 36 -
Gabriel Figueroa - Esperanza Lopez Mateos "had translated Romain Rolland and Sigmund Freud for Espasa Calpe of Argentina"
Enrique Gonzalez Aparicio, 1890-1940, was an educator, economist, lawyer, government official, bank director. Gutmann seems to have involved himself with the 1938 Oil expropriation as there is a reference he sent telegrams to Cardenas to try to gain a meeting.
"Cantos Para Soldados Y Sones Para Turistas" (Songs for Soldiers and Songs for Tourists), Nicolás Guillén, Editorial Masas, 1937 (84 pages)
Nicolás Guillén 1902-1989. Famous Cuban poet, first book published 1930, jailed in Cuba for activism 1936, joined communist party in 1937, ran for office as communist 1940, exiled from Cuba 1953, returned after Castro victory. National poet of Cuba.
Prologue by Juan Marinello. 1898-1977. Friend and political colleague of Guillen. Cuban poet.
Illustrations and jacket by Jose Chavez Morado. 1909-2002. Famous Mexican artist. Member of LEAR. Member of the mexican communist party. Named chief of the fine arts section of the department of fine arts of the Secretaria de Educacion Publica in 1935. Professor of lithography at Escuela de Artes del Libro. Traveled to spain in 1937 to support Spanish republic.
Jose Chavez Morado married German national Olga Costa, famous Mexican artist, daughter of Russian emigre Jacob Kostakowsky.
Jakob Kostakowsky 1893-1953. Musician. Violinist. Conductor. Russian born, German emigre to mexico in 1925, LEAR.
Lia Kostakowsky - Lya - daughter of Jakob, sister of Olga, Unauthorized Traven translator for Editorial Cima, called out in introduction of "Puente en la Selva" 1941.
Jose Chavez Morado illustration from Cantos Para Soldados
"El ABC de las Huelgas" (The ABC of the Strikes), Mario Pavón Flores, Editorial Masas, 1937 (196 pages)
Mario Pavon Flores 1909-1999. Writer, Essayist, director of Libraries at Ministry of Public Education. LEAR. Member of the Central Committee of Mexican communist party. Also attorney. Leon Trotsky wrote an article titled "Pavon Flores, the GPU's Attorney." When the arrests were made for the May 24, 1940 attack on Trotsky, Pavon Flores was the attorney for some of the defendants. Trotsky followed the court arguments closely and wrote an extensive rebuttal, claiming that Flores was making arguments exculpating the Russian GPU rather than pleading the case for his actual defendants.
"No Pasarán," Upton Sinclair, Various publishers including Editorial Masas, 1937 (144 pages)
A novel about the Spanish Civil War. It was not an exclusive title of Editorial Masas. Libraries with copies today say Sinclair was the publisher. I am not sure this cover is the Editorial Masas edition.
"Hombres Sin Mujer," Carlos Montenegro, Editorial Masas, 1938 (242 pages)
This book has been re-printed. There are blogs and studies of this novel on-line. The author was imprisoned in Cuba for several years. This a novel, not a diary.
The printer is Talleres Graficos de la Nacion. One review says the book is a condemnation of the prison system. The author, in 1938, wrote on the title page a non-ironic salute to the prison system of the USSR.
"Hombres Sin Mujer," by Carlos Montenegro, 1938, using the Donceles address, contains the foreword-
a Emma Perez, hallada - para siempre - en mi octavo ano de prision;
a Mongo Miyar, que ha hecho posible con su amistad y ayuda la creacion de este libro;
a mis ex-companeros, buenos o malos, mejor, salvados o perdidos, especialmente a aquellos que me han prestado sus vidas e incluso sus nombres, para realizar "Hombres sin Mujer;"
v. finalmente, a la URSS, que ha aplastada con puno bolchevique el tradicional regimen penitenciario.
to Emma Perez, found - forever - in my eighth year of imprisonment;
to Mongo Miyar, who has made possible with his friendship and help the creation of this book;
to my ex-companions, good or bad, better, saved or lost, especially those who have given me their lives and even their names, to make "Men Without Women;"
v. finally, to the USSR, which has crushed the traditional penitentiary regime with Bolshevik fist.
"Sobre la Literatura y el Arte de Marx y Engels," ed. by Jean Fréville, trans. by Pedro Geoffroy Rivas, Editorial Masas 1938
The only reference I have for this is from Sebastian Rivera Mir and his excellent online essay about left wing publishing in Mexico in the 1930s. He calls Rivas an important, competent translator. He discusses his pirate translations of Traven. He refers to Editorial Masas as "a publishing house linked to communism". Rivas was called out by Traven as a pirate in the introduction to Puente en la Selva.
