Monday, December 11, 2006

Borges Manuscripts Lost, Presumed Stolen

Lame Duck Books in Cambridge has reported the loss and presumed theft of two extremely rare Jorge Luis Borges manuscripts, the Harvard Crimson reports. "Pierre Menard, Author of Don Quixote," and "The Library of Babel" were last seen at the Hamburg Book Fair in early November, and were discovered missing on November 16 during a reception before the Boston Antiquarian Book Fair. They were priced at $450,000 and $500,000 respectively.

Reports of the theft have been filed with Cambridge Police and with Interpol; Lame Duck's insurance company is also investigating.

A very decent article, worth reading - good quotes from some Borges scholars and Lame Duck's Saúl Roll.

Of course I share the hope that these manuscripts are recovered and don't disappear for decades down the rabbit-hole that is the black market for this sort of thing. If you have any information about the disappearance, please contact the Cambridge Police Department or Interpol.