Poet’s letters auctioned for EUR 10,000

27 January 2004

MADRID – A buyer purchased three letters written by Chilean poet Pablo Neruda for EUR 10,000 (USD 12,500) at an auction on Tuesday.

Another highlight of the auction was the sale of the first edition of Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges’ short-story collection “Ficciones” (Fictions), which was sold for EUR 4,000 (USD 5,000) after being initially valued at EUR 3,200 (USD 4,000).

Included in this lot was a handwritten draft, signed and dated 1952, of the beginning of the story “Funes el memorioso” (Funes the memorious).

The centerpiece of the auction, however, was Neruda’s two-page handwritten letter to Susana, daughter of his personal secretary and friend of the poet, dated March 1972.

The letter closes: “It’s 11 o’clock in the morning in Normandy and I must turn to writing letters to myself, what other people call poems.”

The two other letters included one handwritten and dated 8 April 1969, and another typewritten one signed by the author and datelined Isla Negra, Neruda’s Chilean coastal home.

An original photograph taken at Isla Negra featuring Neruda and a group of friends – including Susana – was also included among the letters in the auction.

[Copyright EFE with Expatica]

Subject: Spanish news