|
|
Table of Contents
1. Poems
2. Essays
3. Short Stories
4. Prologues
5. Anthologies
6. Miscellaneous Materials
7. Manuscripts
8. Fine Print materials - Plaquets
Links to Biographical Information
The Jorge Luis Borges Collection is made up of a variety of materials that reflect the numerous literary endeavors that Borges undertook throughout his life.Poems - Borges first published as a poet and essayist. The collection holds his first three books of poetry, Fervor de Buenos Aires, 1923; Luna de Enfrente, 1925; and Cuaderno San Martín, 1929 (GRAPHIC - auto. and drawing of Borges 10). All are extremely rare. In fact, there are only eight or nine copies of Luna de Enfrente of the original 300 copies printed in 1925 on the market today. Borges inscribed this particular copy to Victoria (Ocampo?) using a nickname reserved for his close friends. The handwritten dedication reads "A la grandiosa y resplandeciente Victoria, con mi intemporal amistad, Georgie. 1925, Buenos Aires." These works celebrate a Buenos Aires of the past and have a patriotic spirit that Borges would later dismiss.
Essays - His works of essays include Inquisiciones, 1925; El tamaño de mi esperanza, 1926 (he never allowed either to be republished.); and Otras inquisiciones, 1952, (GRAPHIC - on brittle shelf 43) possibly his most significant work of essays.Short Stories - While Borges was considered one of Argentina's best writers by the end of the 1920's, he would not gain international stature until his short stories were translated in the 1950s and 1960s.. These short stories were collected and first published in Historia universal de la infamia, 1935. The second collection GRAPHIC, El jardín de senderos que se bifurcan, 1942, includes "Pierre Menard, Author of the Quijote", a considerate critical review of Menard's life work to recreate, not copy, word-for-word two chapters of Don Quijote, and "The Library of Babel", a tale of a librarian in an infinite library. His third great collection was El Aleph, 1949. He published few other works of fiction as the onset of blindness made it very difficult for him to write short fiction. The Borges collection also includes a number of journal issues where these short fictional works first appeared GRAPHIC OF SUR ISSUE WITH TITLE PAGE FOR STORY. These stories are particularly interesting since the original versions often were different from the versions found in the above collected works.
Borges in an interview noted that "I may not be a good writer, but I am a good reader". His almost fathomless thirst for reading widely from detective novels to philosophical tracts to the Koran led him to not only compose his own works but also to compile anthologies, write prologues, translate works and edit journals.
Anthologies - Borges compiled several anthologies throughout his lifetime, often compiling these works with others. These efforts brought attention to Latin American writers. (see Antología de la poesia argentina moderna, 1926) . He also published thematic anthologies, some on fantasy and detective literature, genres of considerable interest to him. The collection completes a circle here by including several anthologies compiled by others that include works by Borges.
Prologues - The prologues written by Borges gave him the opportunity to elaborate on the importance of a particular work. As with the anthologies, these prologues can be found in a wide range of books by such authors as Norah Lange (GRAPHIC - 148) Franz Kafka, Adolfo Bioy Casares (GRAPHIC - 155 - this can be used with the Bioy Casares collection) Henry James, Ray Bradbury and Jose Hernandez's epic poem El gaucho Martin Fierro.
Miscellaneous Materials - There are a number of works found in the collection that do not fit the above categories. Borges wrote a sympathetic biography of Evaristo Carriego, an Argentine poet whose poems described Buenos Aires street life. His father's one novel, El Caudillo, 1921, can be found here GRAPHIC - 388. There is a rare and unique set of playing sized cards that contain Borges' poems. Borges traveled extensively giving talks and receiving honors later in his life. The work, Atlas, signed by both Borges and his second wife, María Kodama, commemorate these travels.
Borges was involved in several collaborations with other authors. His most famous was the detective stories of Don Isidro Parodi that he wrote with Bioy Casares under the pseudonym, H. Bustos Domecq. He translated works by Virginia Woolf, Andre Gide, and William Faulkner. Finally, the collection includes fifteen books of interviews that Borges gave throughout his life.
The collection includes several issues of Hogar that Borges worte for. Hogar, a ____ magazine...GRAPHIC - #1534.
Manuscripts - Borges manuscript materials are extremely rare and expensive. There are two manuscripts here in the Borges collection. One consists of a small page titled Coplas containing two handwritten short poems and an illustration of a couple dancing the tango by Borges. GRAPHIC - available One of the coplas reads:
Barracas al Sur
Barracas al Norte
a mi me gusta
bailar con corte
The other is a handwritten script used by Borges at a conference. (Guión utilizado por Jorge Luis Borges en conferencia pronunciada en el Colegio Libre de Estudios Superiores, de Rosario.) The central theme of Borges' notes is the detective story genre and he ends with praise, saying that detective literature has exercised the cult of rigor and order during a time in which art has tended toward the chaotic.
A handwritten letter from an almost completely blind Borges was recently acquired for the collection. The envelope is addressed to Sr. Orlando M. Marini, Luca 1611, Capital [i.e. Buenos Aires]. Date of stamp: April 9 [1966] The card inside reads: "Jorge Luis Borges saluda a Orlando M. Marini, le agradece su ... carta, y le pide perdón por esa? oscura firma, ... casi ceguera? le permite escribir. Todo debe/o? dictarlo, pero quiere complacerlo y desearle buenas lecturas (Ojalá pudiera hacerlas) y enviarle amistosos saludos. Buenos Aires- marzo 1966." [Perhaps scan an image of the card] GRAPHIC
Drawings - The O'Grady's purchased four drawings of Borges by the Argentine artist, Elbio Fernández for this collection. The drawings include sketches of Borges' hands, face and a figure drawing. Three of these drawings have been framed and now hang in the Special Collections Reading Room. The collection also includes a short book titled Las manos de Borges. Las manos de Borges contains photographs of the above drawings accompanied by text (poetry and short essays) written by well-known Argentine writers of the time. The commentaries in this book provide an interesting forum for reflection on Borges' personality as well as his contemporaries' opinions of the writer through the literary description of his hands. "Manos para la creación; para la amistad; para el apretón cordial en cualquier esquina de cualquier calle porteña. Manos que añoran la batalla en la pampa abierta; manos que sienten y palpitan. Un cosmos. Un mundo; un ser con sus vicisitudes; un demoníaco luchar de sueño y realidad. Manos; manos de Jorge Luis Borges." [Hands meant for creation; for friendship; for a cordial hand-shake on any corner of any Buenos Aires street. Hands that yearn for battle in the open pampas; hands that feel and throb. A cosmos. A world; a being with vicissitudes; a demonic struggle between dream and reality. Hands; the hands of Jorge Luis Borges." - Nicolás Cócaro, Las manos de Borges, 1966] GRAPHIC.
Fine Print materials - Plaquets - Of further interest to the fine print scholar are the Plaquetas, fine print editions of some of Borges' poetry and short stories. All copies were published as private editions by Juan Osvaldo Viviano, numbered and dedicated to specific individuals. The works included in the set are Siete poemas (1967) illustrated by Jorge Larco, Otro poema de los dones y tres sonetos (1963) with an original tempera by Juan Batlle Planas, El otro (1972) with "aguafuertes" by Ana Maria Moncalvo, and El duelo illustrated with original temperas by Santiago Cogorno GRAPHIC.. All pieces are limited editions, printed on different kinds of paper and many contain proofs inserted with the final copy. Items relating to the details of the transacations of the publication are also included, as well as thank-you letters from the persons who received a Of interest to the fine print scholar or enthusiast, the collection has a ______ works published by ____ Colombo, possibly the best Argentine fine printer of the Twentieth Century. folder of letters, invoices and proofs pertaining to the printing and distribution of Borges' El Otro by the author's friend Juan Osvaldo Viviano. Viviano privately published El Otro GRAPHIC on Aug. 24, 1972, Borges' birthday, and distributed copies to a limited number (57) of friends and acquaintances on different types of paper. The folder contains receipts documenting financial and other transactions between Juan Osvaldo Viviano and the well-known printer Francisco Colombo, as well as thank-you notes from the persons who received a copy of the book. Viviano had 28 copies of Borges' Otros poemas de los dones printed in 1964 which were also distributed privately to a select number of friends. The folder contains letters and receipts directed to Viviano which relate to the publication of this book as well. These materials would be of particular interest to scholars investigating the history of printing. copies of the work.
The collection also includes two LP recordings of Borges reciting his own works. The first album, Jorge Luis Borges por él mismo sus poemas y su voz, contains some of Borges' most well known poetry from his first publications, Luna de enfrente and Cuaderno San Martín, to his later works, El hacedor and El otro, el mismo. Before some of the poems, Borges briefly talks about the motive or the circumstances which inspired him to write it. These introductions give the listener a sense of what it would be like to sit with Borges among the company of his most intimate friends and listen to the "maestro" recite and comment on his poetry. As José Edmundo Clemente comments on the back of the album jacket, "Solamente la voz tiene la frescura del presente. Lo digo porque ningún texto reemplazará la felicidad de oír al propio Borges decir los versos de Borges." [trans: "Only the voice has the freshness of the present. I say this because no text will ever replace the joy of listening to Borges himself recite the verses of Borges."]
The second album titled, Ocho poetas argentinos ... recitado por sus autores y traducidos [y leídos] al francés por Victoria Ocampo, is a recording of eight Argentine writers, among them Borges, Silvina Ocampo and Alberto Girri, reciting their own poetry. Each poem is followed by a French translation recited by Victoria Ocampo. The poem recited by Borges is "Mateo XXV, 30" from El Otro, El mismo.
Audio clip of recordings for website