An original manuscript by the acclaimed Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges will star in Heritage Auctions’ March 7 Rare Books sale in New York.

Borges is one of the most singular writers of the 20th century, acclaimed for his strange, labyrinthine short stories.

This signed manuscript is an essay, titled El tamano de mi esperanza (The size of my hope).

Borges writes to defend the creole Spanish of his native Argentina 

The work was published in 1926, at the outset of Borges’ literary career.

It’s primarily a defence of the Creole form of Spanish spoken in Argentina and is written in this idiosyncratic tongue.

However, Borges would later repudiate the work for its narrow nationalist focus, along with the self-consciously avant-garde style he makes his argument in.

As per his wishes the text was not reprinted until long after his death.

While Borges may not have loved this manuscript, there are plenty of collectors who will.

Other Borges manuscripts have sold for around the $20,000 mark.

This one is valued in excess of $25,000.

That’s not it for venerable South American writers. A first edition copy of Chilean poet Pablo Neruda’s Fin de Mundo (1969) is valued at upwards of $7,500.

The book was among the last Neruda published before his death in 1973 (long rumoured to have been ordered by General Pinochet in revenge for Neruda’s status as a socialist hero).

Check out all our book and manuscripts for sale here.

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