BORGES, Jorge Luis (1899-1986)

BORGES, Jorge Luis (1899-1986)

Autograph card-letter signed with his initials to Ricardo Güiraldes
[Buenos Aires, 7th December 1926], 1 p. small in-8°
Autograph address (from Borges’s hand) on verso:
Sr don Ricardo Güiraldes – La Porteńa – San Antonio de Areco [the large rural estate of the Güiraldes]
Brownings and small spots

Güiraldes receives from Borges an affectionate letter for the recent publication of his cult novel: Don Segundo Sombra

«Ya con un pie en el estribo en literales vísperas de empamparme, porque me voy a Vértiz (F.C.S. por si acaso) esta noche, le garabateo rápidamente que ya Sáenz Hayes estará ufanándose de la pronta captura del padre o testigo de Don Segundo. Ya le avisé à S.H. su resignación y agradecimiento…»

A token of affection between two of Argentina’s greatest literary figures of the 20th century, Borges would later say that he preferred his friendship with Güiraldes rather than his writings. In an interview with Osvaldo Ferrari, Borges returns on Don Segundo Sombra, which reminded him of the “visible goodness” of his friend, but also the pampas, the gauchos, themes to which Borges remained very attached throughout his life.

Ricardo Güiraldes (1883-1927) came from a wealthy aristocratic family in Buenos Aires. He traveled all over the world, immersed himself in modern French literature and was one of the figures of Argentina’s avant-gardism. He remained, however, known for his novel Don Segundo Sombra, which he began writing in Paris. This novel, which depicts the life of a gaucho, is one of the masterpieces of Criollism, a regionalist literary movement exalting Spanish-American ethnic and geographical particularism.